Harrowing footage has emerged showing desperate Palestinians scrambling onto aid vehicles in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis deepens, whilst Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically denied that starvation exists in the besieged enclave despite mounting international condemnation and rising death tolls from malnutrition.
Distressing video shared by Turkish broadcaster TRT shows crowds of starving Gazans desperately climbing onto food trucks, with some managing to grab boxes of aid whilst others appear to scramble for safety amid the chaos. The scenes highlight the increasingly dire humanitarian situation facing Gaza’s 2.1 million residents.
On Monday, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that 14 people had died from malnutrition in the previous 24 hours, including two children, bringing the war’s total death toll from hunger-related causes to 147, with 89 of the victims being children.
Netanyahu’s Categorical Denial
Speaking at a Christian conference in Jerusalem hosted by Trump adviser Pastor Paula White, Netanyahu dismissed claims that Israel was employing starvation tactics or that hunger was occurring in the territory.
“There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza,” the Prime Minister declared, insisting that Israel had “enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza. Otherwise, there would be no Gazans.”
Netanyahu claimed Israel had supplied 1.9 million tonnes of aid to Gaza since the conflict began and blamed Hamas for intercepting supplies before “accusing Israel of not supplying it.
The Prime Minister’s remarks directly contradict mounting evidence of widespread malnutrition and starvation, with the World Health Organisation warning that Gaza faces mass starvation and describing civilians as becoming “walking corpses.”
International Pressure Mounts
Following sustained international criticism, Israel announced on Sunday that it would implement “humanitarian pauses” in fighting to allow increased UN aid deliveries after two months of restricting UN convoys in favour of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The Israeli Defence Forces confirmed that “secure routes to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organisation convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip” had been established.
However, aid agencies warn the measures remain insufficient. The World Food Programme dispatched 60 trucks of aid, but Regional Director Samer AbdelJaber stated: “Sixty is definitely not enough. So our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza.”
Three Jordanian and Emirati supply planes were permitted to drop aid into the territory, but the 25 tonnes delivered represents a fraction of what ground convoys can provide.
Devastating Humanitarian Statistics
The World Food Programme reports that almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children requiring specialist nutrition treatments. Recent screening data shows that over 40% of pregnant and breastfeeding women are severely malnourished.
According to UN agencies, nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, with Global Acute Malnutrition rates tripling since June. In Khan Younis and the Middle Area, malnutrition rates have doubled within a month.
The United Nations Human Rights Office reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May whilst attempting to access food, with 674 deaths occurring near GHF distribution sites.
Aid Distribution Crisis
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created to replace the UN’s aid role in Gaza, has faced widespread criticism for failing to improve conditions. The organisation’s director Jake Wood resigned in May, stating it was impossible to adhere to humanitarian principles of “humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”
UN agencies and major humanitarian organisations have refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns that it was designed to serve Israeli military objectives rather than humanitarian principles.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that “families are breaking down” amid the hunger crisis, stating: “Parents are too hungry to care for their children.
Medical Testimony and Evidence
Healthcare professionals in Gaza report overwhelming numbers of malnourished patients. At Patient’s Friends Hospital in Gaza City, medical director Said Salah told NPR that “the prognosis is bad than yesterday, and tomorrow will be bad than today.”
The hospital has been forced to suspend its malnutrition treatment programme due to lack of supplies. Most infants being treated lack the strength to cry and lie limp in the arms of severely malnourished mothers unable to provide breast milk.
Dr Khalil al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Hospital, explained that doctors cannot adequately help those suffering from malnutrition: “Hospitals are already overwhelmed by the number of casualties from gunfire. They can’t provide much more help for hunger-related symptoms because of food and medicine shortages.”
International Condemnation
A joint statement from 28 Western-aligned countries on Monday condemned “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians.” More than 100 international humanitarian organisations have called on Israel to end its blockade and agree to a ceasefire.
The organisations warned that supplies in Gaza are now “totally depleted” and that humanitarian groups are “witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council that the toll of 17,000 children killed since October 2023 was like “a whole classroom of children killed every day for nearly two years.”
US Position and Diplomatic Efforts
President Donald Trump, speaking during his meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, expressed uncertainty about Netanyahu’s claims whilst acknowledging the visual evidence of suffering.
“I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,” Trump stated, adding that the US was providing significant aid whilst encouraging other nations to contribute.
Trump revealed the US had donated $60 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, though he complained that “nobody acknowledged it” and claimed European countries had contributed nothing.
Current Military Operations
Despite announcing humanitarian pauses, the Israeli military stressed that “combat operations have not ceased” in Gaza. Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians since midnight on Monday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The military announced it would coordinate airdrops with international aid organisations, though aid groups have dismissed airdrops as expensive, inefficient, and dangerous for those on the ground.
Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed that humanitarian pauses would begin in “civilian centres and humanitarian corridors,” though the military emphasised its assertion that there is “no starvation” in the territory.
Breakdown of Civil Order
Aid workers describe the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing as resembling scenes from “Mad Max” films, with trucks requiring metal grilles and screens to protect windshields from attacks. UN officials report a complete breakdown in public order and safety.
Much humanitarian aid is reportedly piling up on the Gaza side of border crossings for days or weeks before distribution, hampered by ongoing military operations, fuel shortages, and looting by armed groups.
Healthcare System Collapse
The four specialised malnutrition treatment centres in Gaza are operating beyond capacity and expected to run out of supplies by mid-August. Health workers report fainting on the job due to hunger and exhaustion.
Recent WHO data shows that 263 children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications have been hospitalised in 2025, with 73 admissions in July alone compared to 39 in June.
Water and sanitation systems have collapsed, accelerating disease spread and creating what officials describe as “a dangerous cycle of illness and death.”
Historical Context
Before the war, Gaza was already one of the most isolated and densely populated areas globally, with Israel maintaining tight control through a years-long land, air, and sea blockade. More than half of residents were food insecure even before October 2023.
Following Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 hostages, Israel ordered a “complete siege” of Gaza, halting electricity, food, water, and fuel supplies.
The first aid trucks entered Gaza in late October following international pressure, with deliveries increasing during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023 before restrictions were reimposed.
The ongoing crisis has killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza according to local health authorities, with aid agencies warning that without immediate intervention, the humanitarian catastrophe will continue to deepen.
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