Hospitals in the Gaza Strip have recorded two new deaths due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 113, according to a statement published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on its Facebook page.
The Government Media Office in Gaza warned of the intensifying and spreading famine across Gaza governorates, coinciding with the complete closure of all crossings by the Israeli occupation for 145 consecutive days, and the prevention of baby formula and humanitarian aid entry, as published, Thursday, 24 July.
The Gaza Strip requires no less than 500,000 bags of flour per week to avoid total humanitarian collapse.
The office denied reports by some activists outside the Strip about “the breaking of the famine and the entry of hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks,” calling on the international community to lift the blockade on the Strip and allow the entry of baby formula and aid for the nearly 2.4 million people under siege.
Movements of Humanitarian Organizations
Israel continues to impose restrictions on the operations of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations, preventing them from bringing food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating on 27 May, the Israeli army has bombed and fired at Palestinians attempting to reach distribution points, resulting in many casualties, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The commission noted the killing of over 410 Palestinians in this context and at least 93 others by the Israeli army while trying to approach the “very rare” aid convoys of the UN and other humanitarian organizations.
At least 3,000 others have been injured in these incidents.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that the United Nations is ready to seize the opportunity of a ceasefire to significantly expand humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip, in the daily press briefing on 23 July.
Dujarric emphasized the need to open the crossings and restore movement along major supply routes, underlining that humanitarian workers must be able to operate safely, people must be allowed to move freely, and supplies must reach all areas of Gaza.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), all of its warehouses across the Gaza Strip are empty. More than 116,000 metric tons of food aid—enough to feed one million people for up to four months—are ready to enter Gaza if the blockade is lifted.
Humanitarian Workers and Journalists
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that aid workers are fainting from hunger and exhaustion due to daily malnutrition, compounding fears for the lives of Gaza’s residents.
Doctors, nurses, journalists, and humanitarian workers—including staff from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)—are suffering from hunger and fainting from exhaustion while carrying out their duties, according to Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at UNRWA.
Global media outlets (Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, BBC, and Reuters) also expressed concern over the deteriorating conditions journalists face in Gaza amid worsening famine and continued blockade.
In a statement published Thursday, 24 July, the outlets said that independent journalists who have been covering events from inside the Strip for months are unable to feed themselves or their families.
They called on Israeli authorities to allow journalists to enter and exit Gaza, stressing that the continued flow of food supplies to the Strip has become essential.
Global Protests
Thousands of people protested in front of the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding an end to the war in Gaza and drawing attention to the growing famine in the Palestinian enclave, according to The Times of Israel.
The protest organizer, Alon-Lee Green, posted on X during the demonstration, “We march carrying photos of Gaza’s children starved by our government and army. We do not accept this. We call on people to reject starvation, reject killing, reject genocide.”
Following the circulation of a video from Nuseirat camp in central Gaza—showing hungry children, men, and women banging on their empty pots and calling for humanitarian crossings to be opened and the blockade to end—activists around the world called for a daily symbolic protest of “pot banging” to raise urgent awareness about the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, according to Quds Press.
“Cacerolazo,” or “pot banging,” is a historical form of peaceful protest used by people during political and social crises.
Since 7 October 2023, Israel has waged a war on Gaza that has left more than 202,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to over 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced.
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