WHO Director-General calls out “man-made” mass starvation in the Gaza Strip

Amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, the UN, WHO, NGOs, and humanitarian organizations reiterate their urgent pleas for a ceasefire to open crossings for food, medicine, and other desperately needed aid and protect civilians trying to access food and health workers operating in the region.

Estimates of acute and severe malnutrition rise as limited food assistance enters Gaza. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports that since May 27, 2025, 1,060 people have died trying to access food supplies. 

“The 2.1 million people trapped in the war zone that is Gaza are facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets: starvation. We’re now witnessing a deadly surge in malnutrition-related deaths,” says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the organization’s weekly press conference on global health issues. 

“A large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving; I don’t know what you would call it other than mass starvation. And it’s man-made, that’s very clear. This is because of the blockade.” 

He notes that since July 17, severe acute malnutrition centers are full without sufficient supplies for emergency feeding. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is appalled by the accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, according to his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

He says Guterres deplored the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition and strongly condemned the ongoing violence, including the shooting, killing, and injuring of people attempting to get food.

Dujarric stresses: “Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate, by all means at its disposal, the humanitarian relief provided by the UN and other humanitarian organizations.”

Humanitarian Situation Update

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cautions that people in the Gaza Strip continue to face death, injury, displacement, and trauma amid ongoing hostility and the “slow erosion of conditions essential for survival,” such as adequate access to food, water, health care, and shelter. 

In its weekly Humanitarian Situation Update on the Gaza Strip, the organization says over one million children are “bearing the brunt of deepening starvation and malnutrition.” 

OCHA says over one million children are bearing the brunt of deepening starvation and malnutrition (Image credit: UN).OCHA highlights that Gaza’s population of over two million people has been displaced to 45 square kilometers, as 88% of the territory falls within Israeli-militarized zones or is under displacement orders. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 90,000 women and children urgently need malnutrition treatment. 

“Nearly one in three people is not eating for days,” says the WFP. “Food aid is the only way for most people to access any food, as the cost of a one-kilogram bag of flour has surged to over US$100 in local markets.”

Operations compromised

According to OCHA, humanitarian organizations have only been able to bring limited quantities of aid to address acute levels of food insecurity. Its humanitarian update notes that all UN-supported bakeries remain closed, and the remaining operational community kitchens have delivered 158,000 cooked meals as of July 20. 

OCHA also notes continued casualties among people looking for food. For example, on July 20, a 25-truck WFP convoy carrying food assistance for people in northern Gaza encountered large crowds of civilians desperate for food supplies, which came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers, and other gunfire. 

Earlier this week, WHO reported that personnel and their families in a staff residence in the city of Deir al Bala were attacked, with one staff member still being detained by the Israeli military. The organization’s main warehouse, which contained vital medicines and supplies, was also severely damaged. 

NGOs state that ample food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel are available but they are blocked from accessing or delivering them.The organization says it is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate. 

“WHO calls for the active protection of UN personnel and facilities, civilians, and health care, for the unimpeded flow of aid,” underscored Ghebreyesus in this week’s press conference. “Health care must never be a target.” 

Over 100 NGOs plea for aid

This week, 109 NGOs and organizations released a joint statement pleading for action from governments to allow in life-saving aid. Signatories include Action Against Hunger, Amnesty International, CARE, Save the Children, and Oxfam International. 

The organizations urge governments to act now. “It is time to take decisive action: demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; lift all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; open all land crossings; ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response; and continue to fund principled and impartial humanitarian organizations.”

Their statement notes that ample food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items, and fuel sit untouched within and outside of Gaza, but they are blocked from accessing or delivering them. 

“Distributions in Gaza average just 28 trucks a day, far from enough for over two million people, many of whom have gone weeks without assistance. The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed; it has been prevented from functioning,” reads the statement. 

“States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but “must control it to prevent it from being diverted by militants.” Authorities blame Hamas for the suffering of Gaza’s population, and it claims to have let enough food into Gaza during the war.