• Malnutrition-related child deaths have surged 54% since April and more than 85 children have died from malnutrition-related causes according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health

  • In July alone, 63 people, including 24 children under five years old, died from hunger-related causes, most showing signs of severe wasting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

  • Nearly 1 in 5 children under five in Gaza City is acutely malnourished, triple the rate in June

Amman, Jordan, July 28, 2025 —  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that limited “tactical pauses,” airdrops, and other symbolic gestures are dangerously inadequate in the face of Gaza’s accelerating hunger crisis. With child deaths from malnutrition surging and famine conditions prevalent, to be meaningful, any halt in fighting must end Israel’s near-total blockade and allow sustained, large-scale aid and commercial supplies through safe land routes. Fuel, food, clean water, and electricity must reach all areas of Gaza—brief pauses won’t cut it. 

With famine taking hold, airdrops offer little more than symbolic relief. They’re costly, inefficient, and incapable of meeting urgent needs. The consequences of the blockade are dire: bakeries are shuttered, food prices have skyrocketed 700%, and nearly a third of Gaza’s population goes entire days without eating. 

IRC teams report families living on lentil water and wild herbs. In some areas, children share a single cucumber for the entire day—or stop seeking aid because they’re too weak to walk. These are the signs of starvation’s brutal progression: the body shuts down, immunity collapses, and organs fail. This is not just hunger—it’s a slow, deliberate death by starvation. 

IRC staff inside Gaza are not only witnessing the hunger crisis firsthand; they are living it themselves, alongside the communities they serve.  

Abdelraheem Hamad, an IRC staff member inside Gaza, said, 

"People are collapsing in the streets from emaciation. One day, I saw a child digging through a pile of trash for food. He found nothing — there are no scraps left. That moment captured the meaning of famine in a way words cannot describe. At home, I had only two loaves of bread to feed six people. We’re not just witnessing hunger anymore — this is starvation unfolding in real time.” 

“My colleagues are facing the same devastation. Some stretch a single meal across an entire day. Others go hungry so their children can eat. We are racing against time and hunger — and we are losing.” 

Rania Al Shrehi, another IRC staffer, added, 

“The sound of children crying from hunger never stops. Every day, people knock on our doors asking for food. Not money — just bread.” 

Yahya Mansour, another IRC staffer said, 

“We haven’t had a full meal in four months... Now, he just wants a piece of bread — and most nights, I have nothing to give him.” 

The IRC calls for the immediate, at-scale resumption of humanitarian aid through all land crossing points into Gaza. All restrictions that delay or block life-saving assistance must end. Humanitarian agencies must be granted safe, sustained, and unimpeded access to reach every community in need.

Everything you need to know about the Gaza crisis here.