Israeli strikes kill 63 in Gaza despite ‘pauses' as hunger crisis deepens
On Sunday, the Israeli army said it would temporarily halt military activity each day from 10am to 8pm (07:00-17:00 GMT) in parts of central and northern Gaza, including al-Mawasi, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City. It also pledged to open designated aid corridors for food and medical convoys between 6am and 11pm.
But hours into the first day of the 'humanitarian pauses' Israeli air raids resumed.
'There was an air strike on Gaza City, and this is one of the areas that was designated as a safe area and where the Israeli forces are going to halt their military operations,' Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary reported from Deir el-Balah.
'According to Palestinians in that area a bakery was targeted.'
The bombardment comes as global outcry grows over the worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza inflicted by Israel.
Famine deaths rise
Gaza's Health Ministry reported six more Palestinians, including two children, died from hunger-related causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the number of starvation deaths to 133 since October 2023.
Among the dead was 5-month-old Zainab Abu Haleeb who succumbed to malnutrition at Nasser Hospital.
'Three months inside the hospital and this is what I get in return, that she is dead,' said her mother Israa Abu Haleeb as the child's father cradled her small body wrapped in a white shroud.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday that one in three Gaza residents had gone days without eating, and nearly 500,000 people are suffering from 'famine-like conditions'. The World Health Organization also warned last week more than 20 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished.
Falestine Ahmed, a mother in Gaza, told Al Jazeera she had lost one-third of her body weight due to the lack of food.
'I used to weigh 57kg, now I weigh 42kg, and both my son and I have been diagnosed with severe malnutrition,' she said. 'We barely have any food at home, and even when it's available, it's far too expensive for us to afford.'
Israel has authorised new corridors for aid, and the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have airdropped supplies into the territory. However, deliveries have been fraught with danger.
Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported that one aid drop turned deadly: 'Eleven people were reported with injuries, as one of these pallets fell directly on tents in that displacement site near al-Rasheed road.'
Despite the mounting evidence of extreme hunger, Israel continues to deny famine exists in Gaza. The Israeli military insists it is working to improve humanitarian access.
But scenes of desperation contradict official claims. 'I've come all this way, risking my life for my children. They haven't eaten for a week,' said Smoud Wahdan, a mother searching for flour speaking to Al Jazeera. 'At the very least, I've been looking for a piece of bread for my children.'
Another displaced mother, Tahani, said her cancer-stricken child was among those suffering. 'I came to get flour, to look for food to feed my children. I wish God's followers would wake up and see all these people. They are dying.'
Aid groups overwhelmed
Liz Allcock, head of protection for Medical Aid for Palestinians, told Al Jazeera that she had never seen Gaza in such a state. 'The scale of starvation and the number of people that you see walking around who are literally skin and bones… money really has no value here when there is nothing to buy,' she said.
'All of Gazan society – no matter who they are – is suffering from critical food shortages,' she added, warning that a quarter of the population was at risk of acute malnutrition.
The United Nations says aid deliveries can only succeed if Israel approves rapid movement of convoys through its checkpoints. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher noted that while some restrictions appeared to have eased, the scale of the crisis required far more action.
'This is progress, but vast amounts of aid are needed to stave off famine and a catastrophic health crisis,' he said.
Diplomatic pressure builds
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he had discussed the Gaza situation with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts and plans to co-host a conference in New York next week focused on securing a two-state solution.
'We cannot accept that people, including large numbers of children, die of hunger,' he said.
Macron confirmed France would soon recognise Palestinian statehood, joining over 140 UN member states.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in an interview that Israel's blockade of aid amounts to a violation of 'humanity and morality.'
'Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March,' he told ABC News. However, he added that Australia was not ready to recognise Palestine 'imminently'.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ceasefire talks led by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff were making 'a lot of progress'.
'We're optimistic and hopeful that any day now, we will have a ceasefire agreement,' Rubio told Fox News, suggesting that half the remaining Israeli captives may be released soon.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 88 Palestinians were killed and 374 injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours alone.
Since Israel's war on Gaza began in October, at least 59,821 Palestinians have been killed and more than 144,000 wounded. Despite talk of pauses and diplomacy, the violence continues to escalate.
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Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
How much aid has entered Gaza?
Gaza is now facing its fiercest fight: absolute hunger. There's no food to buy even if you could afford it, people there have told Al Jazeera. The widespread hunger has been imposed by the Israeli military as it restricted the entry of aid for months and enforced a food distribution system where people get shot almost daily. 'It's one of the most … barbaric ways to kill,' Dr James Smith, an emergency doctor who has volunteered twice in Gaza, told Al Jazeera. 'Starvation is always something that is done by one person to another. It's intended to be protracted and to maximise suffering.' On July 29, the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued its gravest warning yet: that 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip'. Mounting evidence shows a rise in hunger-related deaths. Famine thresholds for food consumption have been reached in most of Gaza, and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City. According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, so far, at least 180 people have died of starvation, half of them children, underscoring the devastating toll of hunger on Gaza's young. According to the IPC, more than 20,000 children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July – more than 3,000 of them severely affected. As it begins to starve after being deprived of food for days, the body begins to break down its own muscle and other tissues. Metabolism slows, kidney function is impaired and the immune system falters, reducing the body's ability to heal. Essential organs like the heart and lungs become less effective. Muscles shrink, and people feel weak. Eventually, its protein stores ravaged, the body breaks down its tissues as death nears. The aid allowed into Gaza Despite the suffering, Israel allowed just 36 aid trucks into Gaza on Saturday, even as 22,000 loaded trucks remain at the crossings, waiting to enter, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza. Before October 2023, around 500 aid trucks entered Gaza daily – a number that not been reached since. In March, Israel completely blocked all exits and aid, only opening up for a tiny fraction of the needed aid in the past two months. Once food is offloaded at the border holding areas, agencies must request permission for convoys to enter and distribute in Gaza. But approvals are inconsistent. According to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), only 76 out of 138 convoy requests were approved between July 19 and 25. After approval, convoys often idle for hours, waiting up to 46 hours for final clearance to move, during which time hungry civilians gather along expected routes, hoping to intercept food. Once on the road, the journey is slow and dangerous – it can take up to 12 hours to complete a delivery due to checkpoints, security threats, and rerouting. Convoys and civilians alike face Israeli sniper fire, drone surveillance, and bombing. Only 60 drivers are approved to operate inside Gaza – far too few to meet the need. Trucks are attacked by people who are desperate for aid, creating a complicated and often violent situation for the drivers and aid seekers. On May 27, the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) started working, with the plan being that it would replace all UN operations in Gaza. However, it replaced a network of some 400 distribution points operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), with four 'mega-sites' in heavily militarised zones just next to open combat zones. Civilians who walk long distances, spend nights in the open, and run a gauntlet of random shooting, find themselves fighting for scraps of food, if they're lucky. Vulnerable groups – children, the elderly, the injured, and pregnant women – are also forced to make the treacherous GHF journey. A former GHF guard, US veteran Anthony Aguilar, has told Al Jazeera how a little boy who he gave aid to was caught as 'pepper spray, tear gas, stun grenades and bullets' were shot at the feet of the crowd of aid seekers, killing the boy. Israeli soldiers have reportedly opened fire on Palestinians gathering at GHF sites on a near-daily basis. As of August 5, at least 1,487 people have been killed and 10,578 injured trying to collect aid from the GHF. Israel insists that the GHF is needed to prevent Hamas from stealing aid entering Gaza. However, internal analysis by the US Agency for International Development found no evidence of widespread aid diversion by Hamas. Israeli military officials similarly told The New York Times last week that they had no evidence that Hamas was systemically stealing aid. Airdrops Since the announcement of tactical pauses, countries like France, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have tried airdropping aid into Gaza. Much of it falls into unsafe or inaccessible areas and, in some tragic cases, people have been injured or killed trying to retrieve it. In some cases, the aid falls into the sea and becomes damaged by the saltwater. In addition, several videos posted by people in Gaza show airdropped aid that has been contaminated by mould. UN agencies say airdrops are dangerous as well as insufficient and that Israel must allow far more aid in overland and allow access to Gaza to prevent its 2.2 million people from starving. Palestinians killed and starved for over 660 days Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed nearly 61,000 people, including at least 18,430 children, in its war on Gaza. In February 2025, The Lancet medical journal estimated the death toll in Gaza from October 2023 to June 2024 was 40 percent higher than figures provided by the Palestinian Health Ministry, citing the fact that many people die outside hospitals and are never registered.
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Video: Food aid dropped into Gaza contaminated with mould
Food aid dropped into Gaza contaminated with mould NewsFeed Palestinians collecting food aid parachuted into Gaza report some of the packages are covered in black mould. Others have been showing bags of flour from GHF sites contaminated with plastic waste and other rubbish, rendering the food inedible. Video Duration 01 minutes 11 seconds 01:11 Video Duration 01 minutes 19 seconds 01:19 Video Duration 00 minutes 23 seconds 00:23 Video Duration 01 minutes 52 seconds 01:52 Video Duration 00 minutes 24 seconds 00:24 Video Duration 01 minutes 59 seconds 01:59 Video Duration 00 minutes 56 seconds 00:56
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
What ‘starvation' really means, for the human body and for Gaza
Aid agencies say the limited amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza in the last week is unlikely to avert the famine experts have warned about for months. While at first most of the starvation-related deaths were among children and infants, increasingly, older people are succumbing to the hunger that Israel has imposed upon the enclave since March. On Sunday, six more adults died from malnutrition, bringing the number of adults to die from hunger in Gaza to 82 over the last five weeks, when such deaths were first recorded. Ninety-three children have also been killed by Israel through the man-made malnutrition it has imposed upon the enclave since its war began. So, how does starvation happen? Are we seeing the whole picture? Here's what we know. What does starving to death feel like? 'It's awful,' Dr James Smith, an emergency doctor who has volunteered twice in Gaza, said. In the early stages, after being deprived of food for days, the body begins to break down muscle and other tissues. 'It's one of the most undignified and barbaric ways to kill. Starvation is always something that is done by one person to another. It's intended to be protracted and to maximise suffering,' he said. Soon, metabolism slows, the ability to regulate temperature is lost, kidney function becomes impaired and, critically in Gaza, the immune system begins to falter and the body's ability to heal from injury is reduced. Once the body's reserves are used up, it loses the ability to channel nutrients to vital organs and tissues. As a result, essential organs like the heart and lungs become less effective. Muscles shrink and people feel weak. Eventually, as the body's protein stores are ravaged, the body's tissues are broken down, with death not far away. How long does it take the human body to die of starvation? While scientific research on the subject has been limited for ethical reasons, it's estimated that a typically well-nourished and otherwise healthy adult could survive without food for between 45 and 61 days. However, after 22 months of war, few people in Gaza could be described as well nourished or healthy, leaving them susceptible to malnutrition and the many infectious diseases prevalent in the enclave. 'With starvation, the body loses the ability to launch an immune response to diseases or injuries it could normally deal with, such as gastroenteritis, trauma or a respiratory infection, so it's often malnutrition plus an infection that kills,' Dr Smith continued. Who are the people who are most at risk of starving to death? The old, the young, those already ill and, cruelly, those who are alone. 'A child will die earlier from starvation. The loss of muscle and fat occurs almost immediately. Equally, those in older age groups will also die quicker,' Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a Palestinian British surgeon who spent 43 days working in Gaza, said. 'However, it isn't just age. There are social differences, too,' he continued. 'There are currently thousands of orphans roaming Gaza. There is no one to feed them or risk their lives to get food for them, so they're also more likely to die,' he said. Who are the people who are dying of hunger in Gaza? There is overwhelming evidence that, through the various blockades Israel has imposed on Gaza, the threat of death by starvation has spread from the vulnerable to everyone in Gaza. In February 2024, five months into Israel's war on Gaza, the World Health Organization estimated that one in six children under the age of two, especially in Gaza's north – at the time under Israeli siege – were acutely malnourished. As of August 2025, 82 adults have starved to death over the last five weeks. Israel has been limiting Gaza's food for years. How has that affected the people there? Israel has been controlling the amount of food it allows into Gaza for decades, suggesting it already knows precisely how much is needed to avert, or cause, starvation in Gaza. In 2007, following Hamas's takeover of the enclave, Israel instituted its first blockade on Gaza's population, reducing the aid it allowed into the enclave while still giving public assurances that it was not starving people. However, documents uncovered after a legal battle between an Israeli NGO and the government confirmed that, between 2007 to 2010, Israel deliberately reduced the food it allowed into Gaza to 'minimal subsistence' levels. 'Generationally, the damage [of malnutrition] is lasting,' Dr Abu-Sittah said, citing the lasting impact of starvation on brain function, and the prevalence of other ailments, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease among survivors. Dr Smith pointed out the increased frequency with which malnourished mothers give birth to underweight babies, the effects of which 'cascade through the generations'. Can famine in Gaza still be avoided? It's unlikely. Just under a week ago, the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued its gravest warning yet: that a worst-case famine scenario was unfolding in Gaza. However, other observers feel famine has already arrived in Gaza. 'There are three rigid criteria for a famine to be officially declared,' Dr Jones explained. The first two: widespread extreme food shortages and high levels of acute malnutrition, had already been met, he said. Data to confirm the third – the extent of malnutrition-related mortality – is difficult to confirm, he added. 'Some of those most at risk of dying from malnutrition probably don't have the ability to reach a hospital where deaths are typically recorded,' he said. 'Similarly, while many children in Gaza now show signs of malnutrition, they're also at high risk of being killed by Israeli shells and gunfire, which will be recorded as their primary cause of death. 'However, whatever term we use to describe the situation, people are still being killed by starvation throughout Gaza, as the world looks on,' he said. 'This is worse than famine. This is the most grotesque spectacle of suffering.'
