At least 21 children died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza over the past three days, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday, as the UN warned of doctors fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion amid the Israeli aid blockade.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were collapsing while working. UNRWA said it had received dozens of emergency messages from its staff describing dire conditions in the enclave.
Starvation is on the rise in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's constant bombardment and blockade on aid supplies. Western countries have condemned Israel's “drip feeding of aid” and have called the Israeli aid delivery model dangerous. More than 1,000 aid seekers have been killed.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the devastation in Gaza was unparalleled and warned that the humanitarian response was on the verge of collapse.
"We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times," he told a high-level UN Security Council meeting on peace and security. "Starvation is knocking on every door."
Israel has intensified its operations in the enclave, including new eviciton orders in Deir Al Balah.
Inside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, workers are reaching their breaking point.
Ziad Abo Hmidan, 47, head of the hospital’s maintenance department, said his colleagues were fainting at work.
“There are around 50 employees working around the clock to keep the hospital running,” Mr Abo Hmidan told The National. “We move constantly between departments to keep the equipment operating, but we have no food to give us the energy to do this work. The quality of our services is starting to suffer.”
He said medical staff were finding it increasingly difficult to report to work because they feel too weak or are out searching for food for their families. “This is putting patients’ lives at risk,” he warned.
In the Emergency Department, Dr Ahmad Abed Al Wahed, 30, said recent days have been the most difficult since the start of the war. “We have gone up to 30 hours without a single meal. Doctors need energy to treat the injured, but we are exhausted,” he lamented. “Now we’re not just treating war injuries, but also rising numbers of malnutrition cases.
“I worry constantly about my own family,” he added, “how they will find food, while I’m here trying to save others.”
UN agencies operating on the ground have warned that the territory has become nearly uninhabitable. More than two million people are now facing the threat of famine due to prolonged conflict and the near-total blockade of aid.
“No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry,” UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X.
“Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties: reporting atrocities or alleviating some of the suffering.”
On Monday a staff association at news agency AFP sounded the alarm, urging "immediate intervention" to help reporters working with the agency in Gaza.
Ahmad Harb, 44, a journalist with Al Kofia Channel, said Gaza's residents are suffering from two types of war – the one with weapons and the slow death from starvation.
“Despite our fatigue, we continue to report so the world hears the voices of the people,” Mr Harb said. “But over the past three days, food shortages have worsened. I spend hours just trying to find something to feed my children.”
He described an unbearable internal conflict, balancing his duty to report with the desperate need to care for his family. “Some of our colleagues have collapsed while working,” he said. “Still, we are committed to telling the world what is happening here.”
As conditions rapidly deteriorate, the voices of Gaza’s professionals – from doctors and engineers to journalists – echo a unified plea: for the war to end, for humanitarian aid to be allowed in, and for essentials, especially food, to be delivered immediately. The health system and the civilian population are facing an unprecedented crisis after more than 21 months of war.
“I am overwhelmed with worry about my own family, how they will find food, while I’m here trying to save others from dying, we urgently need the war to stop, and we need humanitarian aid to reach the people. We also need food ourselves so we can continue to do our jobs and care for those in critical need,” Dr Al Wahed said.
Adla Massoud contributed to this report from the UN
