Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday that famine and malnutrition have now claimed the lives of 239 Palestinians, including 106 children, after four more deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. The ministry warned that the ongoing Israeli blockade and the near-total prevention of aid are pushing the Strip towards an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.

Over a hundred international organisations, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières, accused Israel of deliberately obstructing aid deliveries through new regulations requiring the security vetting of Palestinian staff. They warned these measures are unlawful, endanger aid workers, and are designed to strangle humanitarian operations. At least 60 requests to deliver food, medicine, and emergency equipment were rejected in July alone, leaving shipments stockpiled in Jordan, Egypt, and Ashdod.

Since March, Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, allowing only minimal quantities of aid that fall far short of the population’s needs. Rights groups and the International Court of Justice have described Israel’s actions as genocide, carried out through killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement under U.S. protection.

According to the Health Ministry, the war has killed 61,599 Palestinians and injured over 154,000 since October 2023. With famine deaths now at 239 and counting, Palestinians warn the siege is not just deepening suffering but weaponising hunger itself.