One million women and girls in Gaza now face mass starvation

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that one million women and girls in the Gaza Strip are at risk of “mass starvation” amid Israel’s ongoing blockade and war of extermination that has been raging since October 7, 2023.

The agency said in a statement on the “X” platform that women and girls are forced to adopt “extremely dangerous survival strategies,” including going out in search of food and water despite the threats of death, violence, and abuse they face.

UNRWA called for the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip and for the widespread entry of humanitarian aid, stressing that the continued closure of crossings and the prevention of relief flows, despite the accumulation of thousands of trucks at the border, has exacerbated the humanitarian disaster and pushed the population into unprecedented famine.

The Israeli occupation has closed all crossings into Gaza since March 2, preventing the entry of any humanitarian aid, except for limited quantities that are insufficient to meet the minimum needs of the population.

Israel’s genocide continues with US support

In a simultaneous warning, the United Nations World Food Programme said that a third of Gaza’s population of about 2.4 million people had not eaten for several days.

The government media office has recorded 235 deaths due to starvation and malnutrition, including 19 women and 106 children, while 1.2 million people in Gaza are living in a state of severe food insecurity.

A source in the Gaza Ministry of Health said that 60,000 pregnant women are suffering from severe malnutrition, while 9,800 women have been killed since the war began in October 2023.

He added:

Pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from anemia and severe mineral and vitamin deficiencies, which increases the risk of premature birth and low birth weight.

With US support, Israel continues to commit crimes that can be described as genocide, including murder, starvation, displacement, and destruction, ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop.

According to the latest Palestinian statistics, the war has left more than 61,827 martyrs and 155,275 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, as well as 251 deaths from starvation, including 108 children.

Featured image via the Canary