141 children among 404 victims who died from hunger in Gaza since October 2023, Health Ministry says
Five more Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation and severe malnutrition in the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The new fatalities brought the famine-related deaths since October 2023 to 404, including 141 children, the ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, 126 of the deaths, 26 of them children, occurred after the UN-backed hunger monitoring system Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared Gaza a famine zone last month.
Since March 2, Israeli authorities have completely closed all Gaza border crossings, pushing the territory’s 2.4 million population into famine.
Israel has killed more than 64,600 Palestinians in a brutal offensive in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
