Gaza Hospital Reports 21 Children Dead from Starvation as Civilian Crisis Deepens

Tone & Political Bias: Moderately Left-Leaning

Why: The report emphasizes civilian suffering, humanitarian failures, and sharp criticism of Israel’s military actions, referencing UN and Vatican voices while focusing heavily on Palestinian casualties.

Starvation Deaths Reported at Gaza’s Largest Hospital

The director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, reported Tuesday that 21 children have died from starvation and malnutrition in the last three days. According to him, Gaza is seeing a rise in starvation-related hospital admissions “every moment.”

Abu Salmiya warned of a looming catastrophe: “We are heading towards alarming numbers of deaths due to the starvation inflicted on the people of Gaza.”

Humanitarian Conditions Worsening

Gaza, home to over two million people, is facing unprecedented food shortages. Aid access has been severely limited since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2, following the collapse of a six-week ceasefire. While aid trucks were allowed in by late May, the UN says stockpiles have now depleted.

Aid distribution has become chaotic, with residents risking their lives to collect food.

Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the U.S. and Israel, began overseeing aid logistics, the UN reports that 1,054 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food. Of those, 766 died near GHF sites and 288 near UN or other aid convoys, according to UN human rights spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan.

UN and Church Leaders Condemn the Situation

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described Gaza as a “horror show,” citing a “level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the highest-ranking Catholic cleric in the region, described the situation as “morally unacceptable” during a press briefing after visiting Gaza. He said he witnessed men standing for hours under the sun “in the hope of a simple meal.”

His comments follow the killing of three people in an Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church last week. Pope Leo XIV condemned the strike, calling it an act of “barbarity” and an example of “indiscriminate use of force.”

WHO Alleges Abuses by Israeli Military

The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Israeli forces entered a WHO staff residence, forced women and children to leave, and detained and interrogated male staff at gunpoint. Ghebreyesus also criticized recent Israeli strikes on WHO-affiliated health facilities as Israel expands its military operations deeper into Gaza.

Latest Ground and Air Attacks

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported 15 people killed Tuesday in Israeli strikes. This includes 13 people killed and over 50 injured at Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. The camp, located along the Mediterranean coast, is housing thousands displaced from northern Gaza. Residents described a powerful overnight blast. Raed Bakr, a father of three whose wife was killed last year, recounted, “Fire, dust, smoke, and body parts flying through the air.”

Two more deaths were reported in Deir al-Balah following an Israeli ground operation. The Israeli military claimed it was responding to shots fired at its troops in the area.

Displacement at Historic Levels

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between 50,000 to 80,000 people are currently in Deir al-Balah, an area previously considered relatively safe. Of those, around 30,000 are living in temporary displacement shelters.

OCHA now estimates that 88% of Gaza is either under evacuation orders or in Israeli militarized zones. The territory’s 2.4 million residents are being forced into increasingly confined areas with limited or no access to aid, healthcare, or sanitation.

War Toll

Israel’s military operation in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack, has killed 59,106 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The war began following Hamas’s cross-border assault that killed 1,219 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.