A two-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammad Asfour, died on Thursday morning in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, from acute malnutrition and the lack of access to medical care, local health authorities reported. His death comes as Gaza faces an intensifying humanitarian collapse, with hospitals unable to function, food stocks exhausted, and aid deliveries blocked.

Medical organisations and humanitarian agencies have warned of a sharp rise in preventable child deaths unless urgent supplies of food and medicine are allowed in and medical evacuations resume. They stress that the situation is particularly dire for children, pregnant women, and the elderly, who are most at risk from hunger and disease.

Residents and local health officials hold Israeli forces directly responsible, accusing them of enforcing a blockade designed to systematically deprive Gaza’s population of basic needs. They also condemn the international community for failing to act decisively, warning that the siege continues to claim innocent lives each day.