'Children Are Being Starved By Design': All of Gaza Faces Hunger Crisis Due to Israeli Siege

Data released Monday shows the total Israeli siege that's now in its third month has made Gaza's already dire hunger crisis worse, leaving the entire Palestinian enclave in emergency conditions and hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation as much of the international community looks on, tunes out, or actively fuels the disaster.

The new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report places 244,000 people in Gaza in Phase 5, defined as such "an extreme deprivation of food" that "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition are or will likely be evident."

The entirety of the Gaza Strip, according to the IPC, is in Phase 4, where households "have large food consumption gaps which are reflected in very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality."

"Goods indispensable for people's survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks," the report states. "The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people (one in five) facing starvation."

"With the announced expansion of military operations throughout the Gaza Strip," the report adds, "the persistent inability of humanitarian agencies to access populations in dire need, an anticipated escalation in hostilities, and the continued mass displacement of people, the risk of Famine in the Gaza Strip is not just possible—it is increasingly likely."

Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps, said the IPC data is "horrifying" but "tragically not surprising," with everyone from children to the elderly suffering.

"This catastrophe did not unfold in the dark; it happened in plain sight," said Phillips-Barrasso. "After more than two months of total blockade, Gaza's food system has collapsed, humanitarian operations are paralyzed, and people are starving. Families are in pure survival mode—hungry, exhausted, and displaced."

"The international community must act now to open the crossings and deliver lifesaving aid. We cannot stand by while an entire population is starved in plain sight."

The updated IPC figures came amid increasingly desperate warnings from aid groups operating in Gaza, most of which has been decimated by Israel's U.S.-backed military assault.

Last week, World Central Kitchen announced that it "no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza," pointing to Israel's closure of border crossings and total shutdown of humanitarian aid deliveries in March. Some aid meant for the strip has been left to rot due to Israel's blockade.

"By constantly adapting over the past weeks, we were cooking 133,000 meals daily at our two remaining WCK Field Kitchens and baking 80,000 loaves of bread each day," the aid group said. "But we have now reached the limits of what is possible."

In addition to cutting off deliveries of humanitarian supplies, the Israeli military has continued its attacks on food distribution facilities inside Gaza, further complicating efforts to aid the enclave's starving population. United Nations officials, human rights groups, and the International Criminal Court have accused Israeli leaders of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Ahmad Alhendawi, a regional director at Save the Children, said in a statement Monday that "this is a deliberate humanitarian catastrophe."

"Children are being starved by design under Israeli authorities' total siege," said Alhendawi. "We have the food, we have the aid, and we know how to treat malnutrition in children—what we don't have is access. There is food, water, and medical aid ready to go, but it's being blocked at the border while families are forced to eat animal feed and leaves, taking unimaginable and dehumanizing measures to survive."

"This is not a crisis of supply; it's a crisis of access," Alhendawi stressed. "At any given moment in Gaza, a child, someone's whole world, could be killed by bombs and bullets, starvation and disease. The international community must act now to open the crossings and deliver lifesaving aid. We cannot stand by while an entire population is starved in plain sight."