KEY POINTS
- UN declares Gaza famine, warns half a million Palestinians at risk.
- Over 320,000 children suffer severe malnutrition in Gaza.
- Humanitarian agencies warn of man-made catastrophe caused by Israeli blockade.
- Pakistan dispatches 19th relief consignment to Gaza.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: Israeli attacks have killed 71 more Palestinians, including 16 aid seekers, across the besieged Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the territory’s Health Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said the total death toll since October 2023 has reached 62,622, with 157,673 people wounded.
Hospital officials reported that 308 injured Palestinians were admitted across Gaza in the last 24 hours. Among the casualties, 16 were killed while seeking aid, and 111 aid seekers were wounded.
Since the establishment of the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) food distribution system in May, the number of aid seekers killed has reached 2,076, with more than 15,308 wounded.
Eight people, including two children, died of malnutrition in the same reporting period. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said around 320,000 children are currently suffering from severe malnutrition.
Worsening famine
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), urged Israel to “stop denying the famine it has created in Gaza,” stressing that “every hour counts” in preventing further loss of life.
It’s time for the Government of Israel to stop denying the famine it has created in #Gaza
All of those who have influence must use it with determination & a sense of moral duty.
Every hour counts.#Famine_in_Gaza https://t.co/NnC8kX01mt
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 23, 2025
Tom Fletcher, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, also called on Israel to provide unrestricted access for humanitarian aid.
Dan Stewart, head of news at Save the Children, warned that Deir el-Balah is projected to be “pushed into famine” in the coming weeks unless the situation changes.
Stewart described nutrition clinics as overwhelmed, with “every bench, every room packed with thin mothers and babies coming in for treatment.”
He added that over half of pregnant women and new mothers are malnourished, a consequence of “months without food.”
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that the famine declaration marks only the fifth confirmed famine globally.
Jean-Martin Bauer, a WFP director, explained that the IPC classification is based on strict international criteria, including the number of deaths from starvation and the proportion of children suffering extreme malnutrition.
Famine isn’t just a word – it’s a technical term. And it’s never declared by one organization alone.
A famine confirmation is the result of a joint, data-driven analysis using agreed global standards set by the IPC. #Gaza is only the fifth famine ever confirmed by this scale.… pic.twitter.com/4KM6NjMGCI
— World Food Programme (@WFP) August 22, 2025
Pakistan sends aid shipment to Gaza
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) dispatched a 100-tonne humanitarian consignment to Gaza, raising the country’s cumulative relief to 1,915 tonnes, APP reported.
The shipment, coordinated by NDMA and Alkhidmat Foundation, included flour, ready-to-eat meals, cooking oil, jam, and fruit cocktails. It was sent via chartered flight from Lahore to Gaza through Al Arish, Egypt.
Israeli defence minister vows to destroy Gaza
Hamas condemned remarks by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who had vowed to destroy Gaza City if Hamas refused to comply with Israeli demands.
The Palestinian group described Katz’s comments as a “confession of committing a crime that amounts to ethnic cleansing” and reaffirmed willingness to release captives in exchange for ending the conflict, while rejecting disarmament without a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the UN-backed famine report as “an outright lie,” citing Israel’s delivery of humanitarian aid.
Netanyahu claimed that 2 million tonnes of aid had entered Gaza since the start of the war, over one ton per person, and asserted that Israel has “no policy of starvation.”
International response to famine in Gaza
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described Gaza’s famine as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself,” urging Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law to provide food and medical supplies.
UNRWA’s Lazzarini emphasised that “months of warnings have fallen on deaf ears” and called for immediate political will to end the famine.
#Famine in Gaza City can be stopped.
Reverse the ongoing catastrophe – flood #Gaza with a massive scale up of aid through the United Nations including UNRWA.
UNRWA’s warehouses alone in Jordan and Egypt are full.
There is enough food, medicines and hygiene supplies ready to… pic.twitter.com/owm40GXuac— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 23, 2025
Amnesty International called the famine “a direct consequence of Israel’s deliberate campaign of starvation in Gaza,” warning that “history will never forgive us for standing by as emaciated children die while food remains just miles away.”
Humanitarian organisations including Oxfam, Islamic Relief, and Mercy Corps echoed calls for urgent aid, highlighting blocked shipments of food and medicine.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described the famine as “Israeli-made and US-backed” and urged Washington to end support for Israel’s blockade.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UK, condemned the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for immediate action to allow aid into Gaza.
David Lammy, UK Foreign Secretary, termed the famine a “moral outrage” and a “man-made catastrophe.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Israel, as the occupying power, must meet the basic needs of Gaza’s civilians and called for immediate steps to alleviate starvation.
