Islamabad 25 July: The UN warns of famine in Gaza as hunger crisis deepens . The United Nations has issued a dire warning about a looming famine in Gaza.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the situation as one where “people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses.”
In a post on X on Thursday, Lazzarini relayed a worker’s grim assessment, underscoring the escalating malnutrition crisis affecting children and adults across the Gaza Strip. “When child malnutrition surges and access to food vanishes, famine silently begins to unfold,” he stated.
The crisis is compounded by nearly three years of relentless bombardment, but World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that bombs are not the only threat. “Starvation is another killer,” he said at a briefing.
WHO data reports at least 100 deaths from hunger, including 21 children under five who succumbed to malnutrition. UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, Edouard Beigbeder, noted that one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished, a figure rising daily due to restricted aid access. “Children must be protected, not left to starve,” he urged on X.
Gaza’s humanitarian situation has deteriorated sharply. Between March and May 2025, no aid entered the Strip for 80 consecutive days, pushing 2.3 million residents toward famine. While limited food deliveries have resumed, Tedros stated they are “far below survival needs.” The UN reports that 1,000 people were killed between May 27 and July 21, 2025, while attempting to access food, many near aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the UN criticizes for violating humanitarian law.
Hospitals, meant to be safe havens, are under attack, with many non-functional, according to the UN Population Fund. On Monday, a WHO staff residence was targeted, with personnel attacked and one detained. Despite these dangers, Tedros affirmed on X, “WHO and UN agencies remain committed to Gaza. We must be protected to deliver aid.”
READ MORE: Gaza Food Supply Collapsing Under Blockade
Aid workers are also starving, with most UNRWA staff surviving on one bowl of lentils daily, leading to fainting from hunger. Lazzarini warned, “When caretakers cannot eat, the humanitarian system collapses.” UNRWA has 6,000 trucks of food and medical supplies stuck in Jordan and Egypt, blocked by Israeli logistical and bureaucratic barriers. Only a trickle of fuel has entered in recent weeks, with no tents or shelter materials allowed for over 20 weeks.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the aid flow “nowhere near sufficient,” noting that 96% of Gaza’s population faces acute food insecurity, per a 2025 UN Food and Agriculture Organization report. Lazzarini pleaded on X for unrestricted aid access, stating, “Families are breaking down, unable to survive. Their existence is threatened.” The UN continues to call for immediate action to avert a full-scale famine in Gaza.
