The Government Media Office in Gaza has warned that Israel’s ongoing aid blockade has depleted baby milk supplies, leaving over 100,000 children under two, including 40,000 infants, at risk of mass death within days.
Officials say hospitals are registering hundreds of severe malnutrition cases daily, with no capacity to respond due to the collapse of the healthcare system.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 123 people, including 83 children, have died of hunger so far in the besieged territory.
“We are facing an expected and deliberate mass killing slowly being committed against infants whose mothers have been breastfeeding them water instead of baby milk for days,” the office said, citing Israel’s starvation and extermination policy.
Authorities demand the immediate entry of baby formula, the unconditional opening of crossings, and full lifting of the siege.
They hold Israel and its allies, especially the US and European nations, responsible and warn that continued global silence amounts to complicity.
On March 2, the Israeli regime cut off all aid to the Gaza Strip. Although a trickle of aid has entered Gaza since late May, access to humanitarian aid is still severely limited.
Malnutrition and diseases are widespread, with tens of thousands of children at risk of dying from hunger and dehydration.
On Monday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that last month, more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, all major regions of Gaza are at Phase 4 Famine (Emergency Level), which means households have large food consumption gaps, high levels of malnutrition, and excess mortality, and are only able to mitigate these issues through unsustainable, emergency-level strategies.
Since the Israeli regime began its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has murdered more than 59,676 and wounded 143,965, most of them children and women.
The entire population of Gaza has been displaced at least once, and lives in overcrowded shelters without basic services.