Gaza: Humanitarianism at a Dead End

An unprecedented humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with more than two months of blockade preventing the delivery of essential supplies, including food, medicine, and fuel. Hunger and the denial of basic necessities are being used as weapons—violating the core principles of International Humanitarian Law, which is meant to protect civilians, the wounded, and prisoners.

For the more than 2 million residents of Gaza, the continued restrictions on access, along with targeted attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, amount to a systematic policy of depriving people of the basic means for survival.

The vast majority of the population lives under constant threat from precision strikes on hospitals, schools, and shelters, while thousands have already been killed or seriously injured. Entire communities—including children, breastfeeding mothers, and pregnant women—are suffering from acute malnutrition and dire sanitary conditions, with the risk of epidemics growing by the day.

Between October 2023 and May 2025, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 53,655, with another 121,950 people injured. Among them are 3,509 fatalities and 9,909 injuries resulting from the intensified attacks on March 18, 2025—amid widespread reports of entire families, including children, being killed together. Since the beginning of the war, at least 15,600 children have lost their lives.

Despite the recent, limited entry of humanitarian aid, the needs remain overwhelming and the situation critical. The number of displaced people continues to rise daily, while widespread destruction of the region’s infrastructure has made the delivery of aid and the restoration of even basic living conditions nearly impossible.

The crisis in the Gaza Strip is purely a crisis of humanity—a condition not caused by a natural disaster but by political choices that deprive millions of people of their fundamental right to life.

The numbers are alarming

The UN warns of escalating attacks on homes, tents, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, raising the risk of the systematic destruction across entire regions. At the same time, alarming rates of acute malnutrition are being recorded among children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. Fewer than 300,000 meals are being prepared daily—an inadequate number for the population in need.

Although Israel allowed a limited, temporary entry of aid on May 18, only 198 trucks had reached the besieged enclave by May 21. Th UN Relief Chief, Tom Fletcher welcomed this development but called the aid allowed in so far “a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed,” underscoring that it cannot replace the urgent need for sustained and unrestricted humanitarian access to essential goods and food. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) further emphasizes that Gaza urgently requires 500–600 aid trucks each day to avert a worsening catastrophe. Yet distribution remains severely hampered by looting, logistical delays, and inadequate transport routes.

Meanwhile, according to a UN report, 29% of the population was forcibly displaced again the past month alone, with over 161,000 people uprooted in a single week—many left without safe shelter. Currently, 81% of the Gaza Strip is designated as militarized zones or subject to evacuation orders.

Latest assessments from OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and Médecins du Monde’s International Network highlight the ongoing collapse of humanitarian space amid access restrictions and intensifying attacks across the region.

Food insecurity

• The World Food Programme (WFP) records catastrophic levels of hunger: “Parents put their children to bed early so they don’t have to try to find dinner. With the continued closure of the borders, we often hear from Palestinians here that it feels like a slow death sentence.”
• One in four children and one in five pregnant or breastfeeding women are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to Médecins du Monde.
• Prior to October 2023, Gaza had low rates of malnutrition that were comparable to those in European countries, owing to diverse and affordable food supplies. Today, it has reached levels comparable to those seen in countries facing protracted humanitarian crises spanning several decades. 
• is now experiencing an acute food crisis. Nearly half a million people are expected to face catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5) between May and September 2025.
• According to FAO (UN Food & Agriculture Organization), Gaza’s agri-food systems have collapsed. Food prices have soared, and local production decimated: 75% of cropland— which contributed up to one third of daily consumption, has been damaged or destroyed since the escalation of hostilities. Animal production has been devastated, with almost 95 per cent of cattle and more than half of sheep and goat herds now dead, and the price of wheat flour has increased by 3,000 per cent since February 2025.
• There is a widespread lack of basic foods such as meat, fresh vegetables, and fruit, after 11 weeks of humanitarian aid blockade.

Children’s rights are being ruthlessly violated

Children are starving and falling victim to indiscriminate attacks. Deprived of essential goods, services, and care, UNICEF describes their suffering as “unimaginable.” From North to South, children are being killed and maimed in hospitals, in schools-turned-shelters, in makeshift tents, or in their parents’ arms.” “They have suffered repeated displacement (…) in search of safety and shelter”, and are “being deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care.”

Attacks on schools and journalists

• Over 95% of schools in Gaza have been damaged, and nearly 89% require complete reconstruction or major repairs, according to the Global Education Cluster—severely undermining the right to education for an entire generation of children.
• From October 2023 to May 2025, 219 journalists and media workers have been killed, including seven in the single week between May 15 and 21. These figures reflect an alarming pattern of violence against press freedom and the right to report.

Threats to women and girls

• According to UNFPA, there is no longer a safe space for women and girls in Gaza, a situation further worsened by the closure of the only women’s shelter after recent forced evacuation orders.
• Women are living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions with no privacy. The risk of sexual exploitation, violence, and abuse is escalating at an alarming rate.

Healthcare crisis and medical infrastructure

• The Director of Al Awda Hospital reported that the facility operates under “the most dangerous and inhumane conditions.” His testimony is harrowing:
  “In one night, our teams treated 52 people. One was a baby girl just a few months old.  Both her legs had been shredded by bombings. We also received nine bodies without life. Seven of them were children… Even after 19 months of this hell, I can tell you, no one gets used to the sight of innocent babies killed or mutilated for life. Our hearts break into a thousand pieces every time.”
• Overall, the hospital has been hit more than 18 times, with 6 staff members killed and others detained. Half of the hospital’s bed capacity has been left out of service. However, it is not the only one the only health facility targeted by Israeli forces: Nasser Hospital, the European Hospital, and al-Ahli have also been hit, leaving the population without access to critical medical care.
• The two-month blockade has led to dramatic shortages of essential supplies and medicines.

Destruction of critical infrastructure

• According to UNOSAT (United Nations Satellite Centre), 174,526 buildings have been destroyed or damaged, 68% of which are no longer habitable.
• Debris from the destruction amounts to 53.5 million tons of rubble, severely hampering access and reconstruction efforts.
• Water and sewage infrastructure has collapsed, leading to the rapid spread of disease.
• A severe fuel shortage has paralyzed pumping stations and sanitation facilities. At least 70,000 liters of fuel are urgently needed to prevent epidemic outbreaks.

Displacement and military operations

• Since March 18, the military operation “Chariots of Gideon” has caused mass displacements and hundreds of casualties.
• Currently, 81% of the Gaza Strip falls within militarized zones or areas under evacuation orders.

Tragically, many families, including parents and children, are killed together inside their homes or shelters.