Israeli activists gathered at HaBima Square on Tuesday for a protest march towards the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, denouncing the ongoing food shortage and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The activists, bearing placards with inscriptions like ‘Starvation is a War Crime; We are all responsible, it is being done in our name,’ marched with sacks of flour towards the Israeli defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The United Nations in June 2025 condemned what it claimed was Israel’s “weaponisation of food” in Gaza and called it a war crime, as aid agencies urged action and warnings about malnutrition multiplied.
Dozens of Palestinians, mostly children, have died from starvation and malnutrition amid a continued Israeli blockade.
Their protest came amid mounting global concern over reports of famine in Gaza, where United Nations agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of starvation.
Humanitarian organisations have raised the alarm over worsening malnutrition, with aid convoys reportedly blocked at the border.
According to Al Jazeera, children have been dying before aid can reach them, even as enough food to feed Gaza’s population for three months reportedly remains stalled in trucks outside the Strip. On Tuesday, medical sources reported that 21 children died within 72 hours from severe hunger and malnutrition.
Hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, are overwhelmed with patients suffering from acute food deprivation. Among the fatalities were two newborns and a child, all of whom succumbed to hunger-related complications.
The International Middle East Media Centre reports that 900,000 children in Gaza are now suffering from hunger, with 70,000 having reached the malnutrition stage.
In addition to the hunger crisis, Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday killed at least 45 Palestinians, including five civilians—three of them children—who were hit near the Ali Ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. Thirteen others were killed when artillery shelled tents housing displaced families at Al-Shati refugee camp before dawn.
The Palestinian death toll on Tuesday alone exceeded 45, with dozens more wounded—many of them aid seekers, according to hospital reports.
The Council of the League of Arab States has called for immediate international action to halt Israeli military operations, recognise the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and ensure unimpeded delivery of aid. It tasked Algeria and Somalia—the two Arab non-permanent members of the UN Security Council—with pushing for an emergency resolution mandating an end to the siege.
Meanwhile, Palestinian professional unions—including the Bar Association, Journalists Association, Doctors Association, Teachers Association, and others—issued a joint appeal calling on their international counterparts to speak out against what they termed a “systematic starvation policy.”
They urged global unions and rights groups to mobilise and hold Israel accountable under international humanitarian law.
Medical professionals on the ground describe hospitals operating at over 250 per cent capacity, lacking beds, basic supplies, and medicines. Reports indicate that medical staff themselves are suffering from exhaustion and, in some cases, malnutrition.
The Director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society issued a grave warning, saying Gaza has entered a critical phase, with widespread fatalities from famine now imminent, particularly among children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
At least 17,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, with some exhibiting memory loss and cognitive dysfunction caused by prolonged starvation. Pregnant women—estimated at 60,000—are battling severe nutritional deficiencies.
Hospitals are reportedly admitting hundreds daily with starvation symptoms, while the abduction of Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, a leading physician, has sparked further alarm over the safety of Gaza’s medical professionals.
The UN Relief and Works Agency previously reported that malnutrition rates among children under five doubled between March and June, with over 5,500 children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.
In a separate development, widespread outrage has followed reports linking the US-based company GHF and its CEO, Johnnie Moore—an evangelical pastor and self-described “Christian Zionist”,—to food control operations in Gaza. Critics have accused the company of complicity in creating “Hunger Games-style” conditions for desperate civilians.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has declared that humanitarian conditions in Gaza have reached “unprecedented levels.” Over 2.1 million people—crammed into just 12 per cent of Gaza’s territory—now face starvation, with little access to food, clean water, or shelter.
As airstrikes and displacement continue, the main threat for many survivors is no longer bombs, but hunger.(Punch)
