31-year-old Hidaya - a Palestinian mother in Gaza - with her emaciated child. AP
Over 150 of the hunger-related deaths have occurred since Israel imposed its total blockade on Gaza on 2 March, according to various reports.
Gaza's humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate under an ongoing Israeli blockade, with severe shortages of food and medical supplies, the health ministry warned via its official Facebook page.
Last week, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global authority on food crises, said a “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza, warning of “widespread death” without urgent action.
The alert followed the spread of images in media reports of emaciated children and multiple reports of hunger-related fatalities.
International outrage prompted Israel to announce daily “humanitarian pauses” and aid airdrops. Still, the United Nations (UN) and Palestinians on the ground say these measures have done little to ease the crisis. Aid trucks are often overwhelmed by desperate crowds before they reach their intended destinations.
The IPC has warned that Gaza has hovered on the brink of famine for two years, with the situation “dramatically worsened” by increasingly strict Israeli restrictions.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says one in three people in Gaza is going days without eating.
At the same time, hospitals report a rising number of deaths from malnutrition, particularly among children under five. Gaza’s population of over 2 million has been pushed into ever smaller and devastated areas under constant bombardment, with essential services collapsing.
Witkoff says 'no famine in Gaza'
In the face of growing international outrage over images of Palestinians starving due to the Israeli blockade, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff claimed on Friday that “there is no famine in Gaza”.
Witkoff made the claim during a meeting in Tel Aviv with families of Israelis held captive by Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Witkoff’s comments contradicted those of US President Donald Trump, who recently said: “That’s real starvation stuff ... I see it, and you can’t fake that.”
Earlier on Saturday, the US envoy visited Rafah in southern Gaza, where he toured a facility run by the US-backed and Israeli-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), established in May.
The GHF has been condemned by tens of international aid agencies and rights groups as a "death trap" for hungry Gazans, as Israeli forces killed over 1,400 starving aid-seekers at the foundation's distribution points since 27 May.
Hamas dismissed Witkoff’s visit as a “pre-scripted performance” aimed at misleading public opinion and providing political cover for a deliberate campaign of starvation.
In a statement, the Palestinian resistance group accused the US of being “a full partner in the crimes of starvation and genocide taking place before the eyes of the world.” The group urged Washington to lift its political backing for "the crime of the century" in Gaza.
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