As a new US-backed aid distribution plan begins in Gaza on Monday, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate amid Israel’s renewed military offensive. Here’s the devastating reality faced by Palestinians trapped in Gaza City — displaced, starving, and abandoned — laid bare in pictures.
Dignity lost
Desperation has become routine in Gaza, where residents line up for hours—often in vain—to get their hands on a single sack of flour or a loaf of bread. According to the UN, over 1.1 million people—half of Gaza's population—are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, with famine imminent unless aid is urgently scaled up. Israel’s blockade, intensified after October 7, has severely restricted entry of food, water, and medicine, pushing the enclave into a humanitarian freefall. The situation has deteriorated further since March 2, 2025, when a renewed blockade imposed a near-total closure of border crossings and halted most aid deliveries.
A generation handicapped
In Gaza’s north, hospitals are overwhelmed with severely malnourished children, many suffering from wasting and dehydration. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that dozens of children have already died from hunger-related complications. Israel’s latest blockade, imposed since March 2, has resulted in 326 deaths and more than 300 miscarriages, the Gaza Media Office announced last Tuesday. Humanitarian access to the north remains largely blocked, and aid agencies warn the region may have already entered a silent famine—a phase where hunger kills without headlines.
Treated like animals
With markets emptied and food deliveries stalled, many families resort to boiling weeds, grass, and animal feed to survive. "I'm so ashamed of myself for not being able to feed my children," Mevat Hijazi, a mother of nine children, told Reuters from their tent pitched amid the rubble of Gaza City. "I cry at night when my baby cries and her stomach aches from hunger."
A river in sight, not a drop to drink
Trucks filled with humanitarian supplies continue to be stuck at Egypt's Rafah crossing, with access often delayed or denied due to Israeli security checks and administrative restrictions. The World Food Programme says less than a quarter of the needed food aid is making it into Gaza. As of this week, only a trickle of aid trucks have entered, far below the daily average needed to avert famine.
The face of starvation
The human cost of starvation is no longer a looming threat—it is a reality. A 10-year-old Palestinian boy, Yazan al-Kafarna, who was born with cerebral palsy, died in March 2024 due to what his doctor said was extreme muscle wastage caused primarily by a lack of food. This harrowing image of a skeletal Yazan, lying at a hospital in Rafah on March 3, 2024, circulated widely on social media and has served as a graphic warning about the enclave’s dire food situation. According to Save the Children, the death toll from starvation among children is rising, with hundreds more at risk. These are preventable deaths—caused not by natural disaster, but by a man-made siege.
The long wait
Even where aid reaches, supplies are insufficient to meet demand. People queue for hours, often sleeping overnight near distribution points to increase their chances. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warns that its stocks are dwindling, as warehouses have come under attack and access routes remain dangerous. “We are choosing who gets to eat,” a UN worker said grimly, “because we can’t feed everyone.”
Enough!
As global outrage grows, humanitarian organisations are calling for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted aid access. “This is not about logistics. It’s about political will,” said Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. Without urgent diplomatic intervention, aid groups warn that thousands more will die from hunger, even if the war stops tomorrow.
