July 23rd, 2025 - Aid Groups Blame Israel's Gaza Restrictions for Widespread Starvation

More than 100 aid organizations, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” is spreading across Gaza due to severe restrictions on humanitarian aid. The statement follows growing calls for Israel to lift its limitations on aid shipments to the besieged region. The European Union and several governments, including Israel’s allies like Britain and France, condemned the insufficient aid flow, stating that civilian suffering in Gaza had "reached new depths."

Doctors Without Borders in Gaza reported a "sharp and unprecedented rise" in acute malnutrition, with many adults collapsing from hunger. The joint statement from the aid groups emphasized that food and supplies, stockpiled outside Gaza, have been blocked from reaching those in need. Gaza's health ministry reported 10 deaths from famine or malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since Saturday to 43, though health experts caution that many malnutrition deaths go unreported due to secondary causes like infections.

The United Nations World Food Program has stated that nearly a third of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents are going without food for multiple days at a time. Israel had blocked aid deliveries between March and May after ceasing a cease-fire with Hamas. Since then, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private Israeli-backed group, has managed aid distribution through a limited number of sites controlled by Israeli forces, but the new system has been marred by violence. Over 670 deaths occurred near these sites, many due to gunfire, while others were deterred from approaching, exacerbating the hunger crisis.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the aid organizations’ claims, accusing them of echoing Hamas’s propaganda. The Israeli government has insisted that the situation is not due to its actions but is a result of Hamas's interference. COGAT, the Israeli government agency overseeing policy in Gaza, claimed that nearly 4,500 trucks of aid had recently entered Gaza, including flour, baby food, and high-calorie supplies. However, the United Nations reports that insecurity and military restrictions are hindering aid distribution, with daily aid shipments dwindling from 500 trucks before the conflict to just 28 currently.

The United Nations and several international groups argue that the previously functioning aid system in Gaza, which had worked well under U.N. leadership, is being stifled by Israeli-imposed constraints. They emphasized that only a fraction of the necessary aid is reaching civilians, and even aid workers are risking their lives by joining food lines. In a heartbreaking account, A’eed Abu Khater described his son’s deteriorating health due to severe malnutrition, highlighting the dire conditions many Palestinians are facing.

David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesman, blamed Hamas for the shortages in Gaza, asserting that Israel was facilitating aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and U.N.-coordinated shipments. He denied that Israel was responsible for causing famine, framing the crisis as a result of Hamas’s actions. However, aid organizations and civilians alike continue to stress the urgency of lifting the restrictions to prevent further suffering and loss of life.

Word of the Day(Merriam-Webster) - Logy(adj, LOH-ghee) - Like sluggish and groggy, logy describes a person who is not able to think or move normally because of being tired, sick, etc., or something that moves slowly and ploddingly.

Example: The heavy meal left me feeling logy and in need of a nap.