“People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees said in a sobering comment on the perilous humanitarian situation as progress remained elusive in ceasefire negotiations.
“When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food and care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,” Commissioner-General the UN agency Philippe Lazzarini said.
Gazans have faced relentless Israeli bombardment but Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said at a briefing on Wednesday that it is not just the bombs which are killing Palestinians, starvation is “another killer.”
At least 100 people have died from hunger, as per reports.
WHO has documented at least 21 cases of children under the age of five dying from malnutrition.
According to Lazzarini one in five children in Gaza City are malnourished, a number that is increasing every day that unhindered humanitarian aid is denied.
He said that these children urgently need treatment, but supplies remain low.
Meanwhile, the United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has said the U.S. wants a ceasefire and permanent end to Gaza war bu the Palestinian militant organization – which Washington declared as terrorist organization by the United States, is not acting in good faith in negotiations taking place in Doha
“We have decided to bring our team home from Doha for consultations after the latest response from Hamas, which clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said.
We have decided to bring our team home from Doha for consultations after the latest response from Hamas, which clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good…
— Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff (@SEPeaceMissions) July 24, 2025
The U.S. Egypt and Qatar have facilitated indirect negotiation between Israel and Hamas but no headway has been made.
The war in Gaza flared up when Hamas attack southern Israel on October 7, 2023. According to Israeli officials 1200 people were killed in the attacks and the militants took around 250 people as hostages to Gaza.
Since then, Israel has been launching attacks on Gaza, which it says are aimed at eliminating Hamas. The UN and other international bodies have criticized Israeli actions, saying they have devastated infrastructure and inflicted grave harm on Palestinian civilians.
According to Gaza health officials, more than 58000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, and the number includes a large proportion of women and children.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has suffered in the backdrop of months-long blockade of the Strip as shortage of essential food and medical supplies have deeply hurt the people.
https://viewsnews.brandbrilliance.org/gaza-is-the-hungriest-place-on-the-planet-us-proposes-60-day-ceasefire/
WHO says between early March and mid-May — 80 consecutive days — no aid was allowed into the Gaza Strip, pushing the population to the brink of famine. While minimal aid has since entered, Tedros emphasized that it is not enough.
“Food deliveries have resumed intermittently but remain far below what is needed for the survival of the population,” he said.
Tedros reported that between 27 May and 21 July, over 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed while trying to access food.
Many of these have died in or around sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American-run and Israeli-backed aid distribution organization which the UN has repeatedly said violates well-established principles of international humanitarian law.
“Parents tell us their children cry themselves to sleep from hunger. Food distribution sites have become places of violence,” Tedros said.
https://viewsnews.brandbrilliance.org/trump-wants-to-see-an-end-to-gaza-war-as-quickly-as-possible/
In addition to risking their lives when seeking out desperately needed humanitarian assistance, hospitals — which have been systematically targeted according to UNFPA — are no longer safe havens.
“Hospitals, which are supposed to be safe havens, have regularly been attacked, and many are no longer functioning,” Tedros said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says its forces only fire warning shots in the air and does not target aid seekers.
He recalled that on Monday, a WHO staff residence, a humanitarian site, was attacked with male personnel being stripped and interrogated, women and children forced to flee on foot in the midst of violence, and one WHO staff member detained.
Lazzarini noted that UNRWA alone has 6,000 trucks of desperately needed food and medical supplies in Jordan and Egypt. He called for this, and other aid, to be immediately let through.
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Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
