Gaza: The Government Media Office in Gaza has reported that at least 66 children have died from malnutrition amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign and blockade of the enclave. Officials have decried the restrictions on the entry of vital aid — including milk, food, and nutritional supplements — as a deliberate policy of starvation.
The announcement came as Israeli attacks intensified across the Gaza Strip. More than 60 Palestinians were killed on Saturday alone, with 20 fatalities in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City after consecutive airstrikes flattened residential buildings. Local authorities said the strikes targeted the al-Nakhalah family compound without warning or justification.
Gaza’s media office labeled the continued Israeli blockade a "war crime" and an act of “systematic extermination.” The statement criticized what it described as international indifference to the suffering of children, and held Israel — along with its key allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany — accountable for the worsening humanitarian crisis. It called on the United Nations to act immediately to open humanitarian corridors.
The situation for children is becoming increasingly dire. According to UNICEF, cases of acute malnutrition are rising at an alarming rate. In May alone, over 5,100 children under five were admitted for treatment — a 50% increase from April and a 150% rise compared to February, when aid was more freely flowing during a temporary ceasefire. In the first five months of 2025, a total of 16,736 children have been treated for malnutrition — an average of 112 each day.
UNICEF's regional director, Edouard Beigbeder, described the deaths and suffering as entirely preventable. “These children are dying because food, water, and medicine are being deliberately blocked,” he said, urging Israel to immediately permit large-scale aid deliveries.
Meanwhile, deadly strikes continued over the weekend. In Tuffah, Gaza City, families were given only moments to evacuate before their homes were destroyed.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, 13 people, including children, were killed in a separate air raid on tents housing displaced families. Another Palestinian was shot dead near an aid distribution point operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah.
Since GHF began distributing aid on May 19, Gaza officials say over 550 people have been killed in and around its food distribution centers. Many Palestinians are now avoiding the sites out of fear, despite their urgent need for food.
The UN and humanitarian groups have criticized GHF's heavily militarized aid operations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the system as “inherently unsafe” and responsible for civilian deaths. A report by Israel’s Haaretz newspaper alleged that Israeli troops had orders to shoot unarmed civilians at the sites — describing scenes of mass killings. The Israeli military denied the claims.
Chris Doyle of the Council for Arab-British Understanding called the GHF’s system a “disgrace,” saying it violates all core humanitarian principles. “Hundreds have died just trying to reach food,” he said. “The current system must be dismantled immediately and replaced with one that is neutral, safe, and accountable.”
As the blockade tightens and aid dwindles, Gaza’s most vulnerable — its children — remain at the center of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
