The death toll from Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip has exceeded 60,000, amid warnings of catastrophic famine spreading through the territory. A growing number of accusations claim that Israel is using hunger as a tool of collective punishment, even as international calls for an immediate cease-fire and the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors are intensifying.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that 98 people have been killed and 1,079 injured in the past 24 hours, including 39 killed and 849 injured while trying to receive humanitarian aid. Another seven deaths were attributed to hunger and malnutrition, including one child. The total number of deaths from starvation was 169 people, including 93 children.
In response to the deepening crisis, planes from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and France dropped 90 humanitarian aid packages with food into northern and southern parts of Gaza.
Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, the total number of dead was 60,430 and injured was 148,722. More than 9,200 people have died since mid—March 2025, underscoring the continued intensity of violence despite increasing international pressure for de-escalation.
In southern Gaza, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that they had fired at concentrations of Israeli troops near the Al-Rantisi Mosque in Khan Yunis. The group also posted a new video of captured Israeli soldier Avitar David, who stated:
“I haven’t eaten in a few days… Netanyahu abandoned us. Everything we were taught to believe in Israel turned out to be a lie. I’m digging my own grave.”
Military operations are unfolding against the backdrop of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. UNICEF has warned that children in Gaza are dying at an “unprecedented rate” due to hunger. “You see the photos in the news, but things are much worse on the ground,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s deputy executive director, said after a recent visit to the region. He called for the immediate importation of at least 500 trucks of aid daily.
Despite these urgent appeals, only 73 aid trucks were able to enter Gaza last Friday, according to the Gaza Government’s press service. Many of these trucks were looted amid growing lawlessness, which the office blamed on Israel, claiming it was part of a “policy of controlled chaos and starvation.” The office stressed that Gaza needs at least 600 trucks daily to meet even the basic survival needs of its besieged population as infrastructure collapses.
The Palestinian Government has issued an urgent appeal to the international community to put pressure on Israel to immediately open the border crossings. It warned that food insecurity in Gaza has reached 100%, according to specialized UN agencies, and repeated accusations that Israel is “using hunger as a weapon”, demanding rapid intervention to end the blockade.
Meanwhile, Hamas rejected US Special Representative Steve Witkoff’s statements about the group’s readiness to disarm, calling his visit to the aid distribution center in Gaza a “pre-arranged theatrical performance” designed to “whitewash the occupation” and justify the policy of starvation. Hamas has reaffirmed that resistance and armed struggle remain legitimate and national rights as long as the occupation continues.
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