Man-made mass starvation in Gaza, WHO chief says [View all]

The head of the World Health Organization has said a large proportion of Gaza’s population is starving. “I don’t know what you would call it other than mass-starvation – and it’s man-made,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Meanwhile aid organisations urged Israel to ease its aid blockade as more Palestinians died of hunger.

At least 10 people had died from starvation in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll from hunger to 111, including 80 children, Gaza’s health authority said on Wednesday.

More than 100 aid agencies had earlier issued a warning that mass starvation was spreading across Gaza and urged Israel to let humanitarian aid into the besieged strip to alleviate the growing human-made hunger crisis.

A letter signed by 109 agencies including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International and Amnesty International says the Israeli government is blocking humanitarian organisations from effectively distributing life-saving aid.

“Just outside Gaza, in warehouses – and even within Gaza itself – tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them,” the agencies wrote. “The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/23/israel-gaza-starvation-humanitarian-groups-letter

What can you call this behavior, if not genocide?