The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has sounded a dire alarm: Gaza is approaching full-blown famine. Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at UNRWA, confirmed that the Strip has entered a phase of “extreme hunger” due to the prolonged Israeli closure of border crossings since March 2. More than six weeks of total siege have left the population starving, with essential supplies either depleted or unaffordable due to soaring prices.

Touma stressed that children and infants are now going to bed hungry, and without immediate intervention, Gaza will face “an extremely severe hunger crisis.” She called for an urgent ceasefire, an end to the blockade, and unrestricted humanitarian access, warning that every day lost costs more lives.

Since the crossings were sealed, aid has been cut off completely, leaving over two million people to fend for themselves in the ruins of a territory already devastated by six months of bombing. The humanitarian situation worsened further on March 18, when Israeli forces resumed attacks following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

With unrelenting support from the United States, Israel’s war on Gaza has resulted in more than 166,000 Palestinians killed or injured—most of them women and children. Over 11,000 remain missing beneath the rubble, many of them presumed dead. The blockade and the bombardment have become weapons of starvation, systematically dismantling every means of survival in Gaza.

As Gaza teeters on the edge of famine, the silence of the international community grows louder. Every missed convoy, every delayed response, every ignored plea deepens a crisis that is both man-made and entirely preventable.