‘Catastrophic' Famine" unfolding as Gazan death toll tops 60,000
In addition to the death toll, between 100,000 and 200,000 people have been injured, many with severe, life-altering wounds, including amputations, traumatic brain injuries, and loss of vision or hearing.
The current death toll is comparable to lower estimates of fatalities from the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. Historical reports vary, with the 1946 Manhattan Project estimating 39,000 deaths, while later reassessments by Japanese and international researchers place the figure between 60,000 and 80,000 by the end of that year, according to the Radiation Effects Research Foundation.
The Gaza Health Ministry documented 60,034 fatalities in Gaza as of Tuesday, with 81 deaths reported that day—19 of whom were said to be civilians seeking aid. These casualties occurred despite announced military and humanitarian pauses in fighting.
Local sources described Tuesday as one of the deadliest days in recent weeks, with reports of Israeli forces deploying drones, tanks, and remotely operated devices in ongoing operations. The conflict has devastated the enclave, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 2.73 percent of Gaza's 2.2 million population. Some analysts, including contributors to The Lancet, suggest the actual toll may be significantly higher due to unrecorded deaths and destruction of medical infrastructure.
The mounting casualties coincide with an official declaration of famine in parts of Gaza by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). In a report released Tuesday.
"Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City," the report said. "Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point."
The report added that one in three individuals in Gaza are enduring prolonged periods without food.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly denied claims of starvation in Gaza, asserting that sufficient aid is available. However, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the humanitarian crisis in a statement Tuesday, calling it "a reality unfolding before our eyes."
"The facts are in—and they are undeniable," Guterres said. "Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. The trickle of aid must become an ocean. Food, water, medicine, and fuel must flow in waves and without obstruction."
He reiterated calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of all captives, and full humanitarian access.
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Global News
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Canadian aid agency workers call for action saying starvation is rampant in Gaza
Canadian aid agencies say malnutrition and starvation is rampant among children in Gaza, as well as among the aid workers trying to help them. The Toronto-based president and CEO at Save the Children Canada said Friday the global agency's clinics are inundated by 200 to 300 people arriving each day. Danny Glenwright said there's been 'a tenfold' increase in the number of children suffering acute malnutrition over the past two months, and that even clinic staff are bringing their children in for help. 'Every single child is now coming in malnourished,' Glenwright said. 'We're also seeing their parents increasingly malnourished and skin-and-bones.' That's echoed by Canada's executive director of Doctors Without Borders, with Sana Beg adding that members of her organization have had to donate their own blood to patients because supplies are so short. Story continues below advertisement Beg said Doctors Without Borders welcomed Canada's recent denunciation of the Israeli government for failing to prevent the humanitarian crisis but called for immediate concrete actions that would open borders to aid trucks carrying desperately needed food and medical supplies. 'Just recently we've had a couple of a handful of trucks that came in with the fuel that was required. A drop in the ocean of needs, really,' said Beg. 'We have no sterile equipment, we have no clean sheets in the hospitals, our hospitals themselves are barely functional, as I said. There is no adequate or safe passage for either civilians, patients, or aid workers to be able to even arrive at medical facilities such as hospitals or clinics.' International experts have warned that a 'worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza, where Israel's military offensive against Hamas has made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Glenwright said Friday that Canadians should be upset by the crisis, calling it 'a profound moral, political, and legal failure.' 'There's no food anywhere else in Gaza and the limited supplies we have are running out,' said Glenwright, whose agency has a clinics in Khan Younis and one in Deir al Balah. 'The trucks that are sitting on the border — thousands of them with these life-saving supplies — are not being allowed in at the scale that is required. And it's a calamity.' Story continues below advertisement Several aid agencies detailed a near-total collapse of the humanitarian system in a press conference Tuesday in London that included members of Oxfam, War Child Alliance, Save the Children International in Gaza and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network. Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday accused the Israeli government of violating international law by denying aid as it controls aid distribution, and called on all sides to negotiate an immediate ceasefire. Beg detailed a catastrophic decline in a region where dire shortages had already forced some doctors to carry out surgeries and limb amputations without anesthesia. 'Today we're talking about a crisis that has magnified tenfold since then,' said Beg, noting premature babies now have to share a single ICU incubator. 'So three or four babies crowded into one incubator at the ICU. Our teams are talking about having to donate their own blood for the patients because there is such a shortage.' Beg said her organization, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières Canada, has about a thousand staff in Gaza, most of them locally hired Palestinians. About 30 to 35 international staff come in for temporary assignments, among them about five Canadians. As malnutrition cases increase, she said staff have had to make gruelling choices over who can be considered dire enough to receive treatment for severe acute malnutrition. Story continues below advertisement Glenwright suggested Canada could do much more diplomatically and economically, noting how strongly the country mobilized to help Ukraine. 'Our government's inability to do more is shameful to all of us,' Glenwright said. 'Canadians can pressure their government – call your MP, say that you want candidates to do much more.' Beg agreed and called on Canadians to inform themselves about the crisis and act. 'Call your local MPs. Write to the Canadian government. Sign petitions,' she said. 'Make your voice heard. Use all of your avenues as a citizen of a democracy to speak truth to power.' – With files from The Associated Press.
Toronto Star
a day ago
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Israeli fire kills at least 18 in Gaza, and US envoy visits hostage family protest
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospitals in Gaza reported the killing of more than a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire on Saturday as Palestinians endured severe risks searching for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery. Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid Saturday morning, described a panicked scene now grimly familiar. After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he said he looked around and saw others lying on the ground bleeding.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Israeli fire kills at least 18 in Gaza, US envoy visits hostage family protest
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hospitals in Gaza reported the killing of more than a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire on Saturday as Palestinians endured severe risks in their search for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery. Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid Saturday morning, described a panicked scene now grimly familiar. After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he said he looked around and saw many others lying on the ground bleeding.
