GAZA — As skeletal children fill Gaza’s overwhelmed clinics and sacks of flour become more valuable than gold, the World Health Organization issued its most damning indictment yet: Gaza is suffering from “mass starvation, and it is man-made.”
The declaration, delivered by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing on Tuesday, eviscerated any remaining illusion that the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is the result of natural scarcity or logistics. Rather, he made it unequivocally clear—this is policy-driven deprivation.
The toll is grim. At least 111 Gazans, many of them children, have died from hunger-related causes in recent weeks, according to WHO’s latest data. Among them are 21 children under the age of five, casualties of a deliberate siege that has choked humanitarian corridors and crippled food supply networks. Aid groups fear the actual death toll is significantly higher, given the absence of reliable reporting from much of northern Gaza, where Israeli operations continue to devastate infrastructure.
Clinics are running at breaking point. In July alone, over 5,100 children were admitted to malnutrition stabilization centers across the Strip, with 800 in critical condition. “We are operating in warzone triage,” said a representative from Médecins Sans Frontières, one of several agencies still attempting to deliver basic care under fire. “These aren’t just starving children. They are children who have been systematically deprived.”
Israel maintains that aid is allowed through “when security permits,” but UN and humanitarian officials have accused Tel Aviv of intentionally weaponizing starvation. Between March and late May, not a single aid convoy carrying food or medicine was allowed into the northern part of Gaza. Even after a partial reopening in June, the daily average of truck deliveries has remained a mere fraction of pre-war levels—less than 10 percent of what is needed to prevent famine, according to Oxfam.
The situation for expectant mothers is equally alarming. One in five pregnant women in Gaza is estimated to be suffering from acute malnutrition. Doctors warn this will have generational consequences, resulting in birth complications, increased infant mortality, and irreversible developmental disorders.
Global condemnation is mounting, but the blockade persists. Over 100 humanitarian organizations, including Save the Children, CARE International, and Islamic Relief, have signed a joint letter accusing Israel of using starvation as a tactic of war, a possible war crime under international law. Rights monitors and legal scholars have already begun building cases for future prosecutions under the Geneva Conventions.
While the West—led by Washington—remains largely silent, others are not. Brazil, France, Ireland, and South Africa have all called for immediate, unhindered access for humanitarian aid and a ceasefire agreement that protects civilians. But with no pressure from the United States, Israel continues its slow-burn siege.
“This is not neglect. This is calculated cruelty,” said a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, speaking from a makeshift clinic in Rafah. “And the world is watching it unfold.”
The World Health Organization’s statement marks the first time a UN agency has explicitly called the crisis “man-made mass starvation,” elevating the rhetorical tone to match the growing despair on the ground. As Gaza’s skies fill with the smoke of new bombings and its streets echo with the cries of hungry children, the label is no longer diplomatic hyperbole—it is a bleak diagnosis of engineered devastation.
Dr. Tedros and detailed data on Gaza’s escalating malnutrition crisis, in his remarks, the WHO Director-General emphasized that the unfolding famine is not a consequence of natural disaster or supply chain disruption, but a direct outcome of human-made policies—specifically, Israel’s ongoing blockade and military restrictions on aid delivery.
The WHO report outlines a harrowing reality: thousands of children are already suffering from acute malnutrition, with many in life-threatening condition. Tedros warned that unless Israel immediately permits full and sustained humanitarian access—including food, medical supplies, and fuel—the death toll from starvation and related diseases will soar in the coming weeks. According to Reuters, the organization reiterated that Gaza’s humanitarian collapse is being deliberately accelerated, and if left unchecked, will amount to one of the worst famine-induced death tolls in modern history.
