Gaza bleeds and starves: 79 killed in 24 hours, famine spirals, aid convoys blocked
UN warns of final-stage famine as children die of hunger, aid trucks remain stranded, and Gaza pleads for global intervention
GAZA, Palestine (MNTV) —Israeli bombardment killed at least 79 Palestinians, including 23 aid seekers, and wounded 453 more in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry in Gaza reported on Thursday.
Another 10 bodies were retrieved from the rubble of earlier airstrikes, with many still feared trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
Israeli warplanes, artillery, and drones struck across the enclave — from central refugee camps to southern towns — hitting residential areas, makeshift shelters, aid queues, and even medical teams.
In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, a strike on Al-Mawasi killed one person and wounded over 10 others at a tent housing displaced families. In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, eight were killed in another airstrike, while a drone strike in Al-Zawaida claimed one life.
In Deir al-Balah, 12 bodies were pulled from the ruins after Israeli forces withdrew, and one more person died of injuries from a previous drone strike. The Al-Tuffah, Al-Daraj, and Zeitoun neighborhoods in Gaza City also came under intense fire, killing six more.
A particularly gruesome overnight attack in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City killed seven civilians — among them children, a pregnant woman, and her unborn baby — according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. In Al-Shati refugee camp, an Israeli strike on a tent in a public park killed a young girl and injured 11 others, mostly children.
Even ambulances were not spared. A strike near the Hamad Rehabilitation Hospital injured emergency workers, underscoring the increasingly hazardous conditions for Gaza’s remaining healthcare personnel.
In the southern city of Rafah, Israeli forces shelled Palestinians gathered near an aid distribution site, killing two and injuring at least 40 others. In Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, four people were killed in yet another airstrike.
Parallel to the military onslaught, Gaza is now gripped by an accelerating famine. Two more deaths from starvation and malnutrition were reported Thursday, pushing the official hunger-related death toll to 113 since October 2023 — including 81 children and 32 adults. Ten of those deaths were reported just a day earlier.
Phase 5 of the famine
Health officials say the territory has now entered “Phase 5” — the most critical level of famine under the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Mass starvation is underway, and the numbers continue to climb:
- 28,677 children under five suffer from malnutrition
- 6,910 new cases of moderate/severe acute malnutrition were reported in just the first half of July
- Over 100,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women are malnourished
- More than 3,120 stillbirths and miscarriages have occurred this year
- At least 159,000 elderly people are at high risk of starvation
- 18,000 wounded civilians remain in critical condition, lacking food, medicine, or immunity
Gaza’s health system has all but collapsed under the pressure, with hospitals overwhelmed, supplies depleted, and medical staff operating under siege.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) issued a chilling statement on Wednesday, saying its staff and ordinary Gazans are fainting from hunger.
“People, including children and persons with disabilities, are dying from severe malnutrition. People are being starved,” it said.
UNRWA said it has thousands of aid trucks stuck at borders in neighboring countries, blocked by Israeli authorities since March.
“The siege must be lifted now to allow our lifesaving humanitarian aid in,” it warned.
The UN and aid organizations estimate that over 6,000 trucks of food and medical supplies are being denied entry into Gaza, even as the territory slides further into starvation.
On Sunday, Gaza’s Government Media Office warned of “mass death” due to over 140 consecutive days of border closures.
A coalition of 109 international aid agencies and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network issued an urgent joint appeal calling for an immediate end to the “genocide and starvation” in Gaza.
“Famine is spreading fast,” the groups warned. “Women and children will be the first to die in large numbers unless aid is allowed in.”
The growing crisis comes as hopes for a ceasefire flicker. Israel has recalled its negotiation team for “consultations” after Hamas submitted amendments to a ceasefire proposal. Reports suggest Hamas demanded clear guarantees for aid access, Israeli military withdrawal from key areas, and a binding end to hostilities.
Instead of progress, Israel’s parliament on Thursday voted to extend the “Unlawful Combatants Law” until December 31, 2025, allowing Israeli forces to detain Palestinians from Gaza without charge, trial, or access to lawyers. The law was passed with 30 votes in favor and only six against — a move condemned by rights groups as a form of legalized arbitrary detention.
Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 59,587 people and wounded over 143,000, most of them women and children.
The bombardment has flattened entire neighborhoods, displaced over 2 million people, and pushed the enclave into what experts call the worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory.
And yet, the siege remains — choking off food, fuel, medicine, and hope.
As aid trucks idle at closed borders, hospitals overflow with the dying, and bombs fall on tents and clinics, Gaza stands on the edge of catastrophe.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
