CITIZENS NEWS

Gaza’s children starve as Israel’s blockade chokes off food and aid

By isabelle // 2025-05-12

• Gaza parents scavenge for pest-infested flour as hospitals overflow with malnourished infants too weak to cry, while Israeli airstrikes target aid convoys and civilian tents.
• Israel’s blockade has sealed Gaza’s borders for months, starving 2.3 million Palestinians, with UN warnings of children dying from malnutrition and flour prices soaring to $100 per bag.
• Humanitarian groups like World Central Kitchen face deadly drone strikes despite coordination efforts, leaving 170 community kitchens closed and millions without food.
• Over 34% of Gaza’s children under two suffer acute malnutrition, with some infants weighing half their normal weight due to Israel’s blockade on medical aid.
• The UN condemns Israel’s siege as a war crime, with over 15,000 children killed since October 2023, while global inaction fuels a slow genocide by starvation.

In the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza, parents sift through garbage for pest-infested flour to feed their children. Hospitals overflow with skeletal infants too weak to cry, while Israeli drones strike aid convoys and bomb civilian tents. This is the reality of Gaza under Israel’s brutal blockade, a deliberate starvation campaign supported in part by the United States, where food, medicine, and basic survival are weaponized against 2.3 million Palestinians. For more than two months, Israel has sealed Gaza’s borders, blocking nearly all humanitarian aid despite warnings from the UN that children are now dying of malnutrition. The World Food Programme (WFP) reports its warehouses are empty, and the few remaining soup kitchens ration meals to thousands. A bag of flour, once a staple, now costs the equivalent of $100, which is unaffordable for families who have lost everything.

Aid workers targeted, kitchens shuttered

Even neutral humanitarian groups like World Central Kitchen (WCK) are not spared. Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli military, WCK’s clearly marked vehicles were hit by precision drone strikes in April, killing seven staff, including an American and three British nationals. “Our trucks—loaded with food and supplies—are waiting in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, ready to enter Gaza,” said WCK founder José Andrés. “But they cannot move without permission.” Over 170 community kitchens in Gaza have shut down due to Israel’s blockade, leaving millions without food. Amjad al-Shawa of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network confirmed the collapse. Meanwhile, Israel continues to bomb residential areas, killing civilians, including five members of the Tlaib family, who were asleep in their tent when an airstrike hit.

Children pay the highest price

The UN reports that 34.3% of Gaza’s children under two suffer from acute malnutrition, while 72.8% battle anemia. Five-month-old Siwar Ashour weighs just 2kg (4.4 lbs), less than half the normal weight for her age. “There was no food when I gave birth to her,” her mother Najwa said, weeping. “If she stays like this, her life will be in danger.” Dr. Ziad al-Majaida, Siwar’s physician, warned that without specialized milk—now blocked by Israel—her survival is uncertain. The numbers are staggering: 10,000 cases of acute child malnutrition since January, with food prices soaring by 1,400%. At Nasser Hospital, skeletal children wince in pain as their ribs press against paper-thin skin. “This is not just a failure of logistics, but of humanity,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud. The UN condemns Israel’s blockade as a “war crime,” yet US-funded bombs keep falling. Over 52,500 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, including more than 15,000 children. Meanwhile, Israel’s allies parrot empty calls for “restraint” as Gaza’s hospitals run out of insulin, cancer drugs, and anesthesia.

A test of global conscience

Gaza is now a graveyard of broken bodies and shattered international law. As elderly women like Aisha whisper, “Death is easier than this life,” the world must decide: Will it continue funding Israel’s genocide, or finally demand an end to the blockade? The answer will define our collective morality for generations. For now, Gaza’s parents keep sifting contaminated flour, praying their children survive another day. But without urgent action, their cries will soon be silenced—not by bombs, but by the slow, calculated cruelty of starvation. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com CNN.com AlJazeera.com Reuters.com BBC.com

Israel starvation violence evil genocide twisted depopulation chaos WWIII humanitarian crisis Gaza blockade