Gaza Officials Say Blockade Starves 66 Children as Fuel Crunch Shuts Dialysis Ward

At least 66 Palestinian children have died of acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, Gaza’s Government Media Office said on 28 June. Local health authorities blamed Israel’s continuing blockade for choking off baby formula, nutritional supplements and other food supplies, adding that crossings have remained largely closed since early March. UNICEF separately warned that admissions of malnourished children are rising at an “alarming rate,” with more than 5,100 cases recorded in May alone.

Health officials in the enclave report that the crisis is far wider than the confirmed fatalities. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says thousands of children now suffer from severe malnutrition, 100,000 are at risk, and 56 percent of pregnant women are under-nourished. Gaza hospitals are receiving roughly 5,000 malnutrition cases a day but lack medicines and specialised nutritional products to treat them.

The collapse of basic services is extending beyond nutrition. On 1 July, Al-Shifa Medical Complex—Gaza’s largest hospital—suspended kidney dialysis sessions after generators ran out of fuel, placing about 350 patients in immediate danger. Administrators said intensive-care units could only operate for a few hours and warned that a continued fuel embargo would lead to “certain death” for many patients. UN aid officials have cautioned that several essential services across the territory are now only “hours away” from shutting down without fresh fuel deliveries.

International agencies including UNRWA, UNICEF and Médecins Sans Frontières say Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse and have called for the urgent entry of food, fuel and medical supplies. Gaza’s media office maintains that the blockade constitutes a war crime and holds Israel—and, by extension, its allies—responsible for the humanitarian emergency. Israel has not publicly responded to the latest allegations.