The United Nations has issued a stark warning about the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, declaring that the food system in the besieged Palestinian enclave has completely collapsed due to Israel’s continued blockade and systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid.

In a statement released Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the agency emphasized that Gaza is now gripped by famine conditions, with thousands of Palestinians—especially children—facing life-threatening malnutrition. The ongoing denial of vital food and medical supplies, OCHA stressed, is resulting in the preventable deaths of innocent civilians on a daily basis.

According to updates from the UN’s official website, desperate families are being forced to risk their lives just to find food amid relentless Israeli bombardment. Supplies of infant formula are running critically low, while rates of acute malnutrition among children have doubled—evidence of the genocidal impact of Israel’s war and siege tactics against Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed profound alarm over the worsening situation, repeating his demand for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the unconditional release of all captives. However, despite months of international outcry, Israel continues to tighten its stranglehold on the territory, further blocking aid convoys and targeting humanitarian infrastructure.

Human rights organizations and pro-Palestinian observers accuse the Israeli occupation of weaponizing starvation against Gaza’s civilian population—a war crime under international law. The situation, they warn, is rapidly approaching irreversible catastrophe.

Palestinian health authorities report that the most vulnerable—infants, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses—are dying in increasing numbers, not from bombs, but from hunger and thirst. Entire communities in northern Gaza have resorted to eating animal feed or going for days without food, as international relief efforts remain paralyzed by Israeli restrictions.

Despite the global consensus demanding humanitarian access, Israel continues to defy international norms, with impunity granted by Western powers and international institutions failing to enforce accountability.

As famine spreads and the death toll climbs, the world watches in silence, while Gaza’s children perish from starvation in what Palestinians are calling one of the darkest chapters in their history of resistance and suffering.

Observers on the ground reiterate: this is not a natural disaster, but a man-made famine—deliberately imposed on a trapped civilian population under military siege. (ILKHA)