Israel says it’s distributing aid in Gaza, so why are people starving?

One 100 twenty-seven people, 85 of them children, person died from hunger oregon malnutrition arsenic a effect of Israel’s siege of Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked each assistance to Gaza in March, claiming that it was to unit Hamas into accepting a ceasefire that Israel broke unilaterally aboriginal that month.

This week, the Israeli authorities has blamed the United Nations for the situation, adjacent accusing its assistance bureau of moving with Hamas to restrict nutrient from getting to people.

This was not the archetypal clip Israel blocked assistance from entering Gaza. In March 2024, Israel stopped UN assistance convoys from reaching bluish Gaza arsenic it attempted to starve the colonisation determination into fleeing.

In September, 15 planetary assistance organisations said Israel was blocking 83 percent of Gaza’s aid.

In some instances, Israel denied blocking aid, blaming either UN inefficiency oregon Hamas for assistance not reaching radical successful areas it has claimed to power for overmuch of the war.

So, what has Israel said, and does it judge that a man-made famine is nether mode successful Gaza?

Here’s what we know.

So is determination nary assistance strategy successful Gaza now?

After receiving overmuch disapproval implicit the accrued menace of famine that its siege had inflicted connected Gaza, Israel, on with its US ally, backed the instauration of the GHF successful May.

The GHF was intended to regenerate the UN and planetary assistance agencies, which person operated immoderate 400 assistance organisation points crossed Gaza, with 4 erratically operated organisation points successful Gaza’s centre and south.

Since May, the Israeli subject and backstage contractors, understood to beryllium American, person killed much than 1,000 radical trying to entree nutrient astatine GHF organisation points.

There are inactive immoderate constricted UN assistance organisation operations, but they are truthful severely restricted that their effect cannot beryllium felt.

Does Israel judge that there’s starvation successful Gaza?

It does not.

On Friday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities successful the Territories (COGAT), which is liable for coordinating assistance into Gaza, contradicted the claims of galore assistance agencies, asserting that “there is nary famine successful the Gaza Strip”.

However, it said, determination were “pockets” crossed Gaza wherever radical had “issues of entree to food”.

Yazan, a malnourished 2-year-old Palestinian boy, beryllium with his brothers astatine their family’s damaged location successful the Shati exile camp, westbound of Gaza City, connected July 23, 2025 [Omar al-Qatta/AFP]

So Israel claims that there’s capable assistance being distributed?

Not truthful much.

Israel claims that shortfalls are occurring due to the fact that overmuch of the assistance lies “rotting successful the sun” due to the fact that the UN has not distributed it.

Israel’s subject radio, Kan, precocious reported that the Israeli service has burned oregon buried immoderate 1,000 trucks’ worthy of assistance that it deemed spoiled oregon expired.

David Mencer, a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, told the BBC connected Friday that the UN successful Gaza is simply a “billion-dollar racket” and accused the UN of moving with Hamas to “restrict … assistance to its ain people”.

Mercer did not supply immoderate crushed arsenic to wherefore the UN mightiness bash that, oregon immoderate grounds to backmost his claims.

Is the UN moving with Hamas?

Not according to the UN itself.

On Wednesday, addressing the UN Security Council, Israel’s ambassador, Danny Danon, accused UN assistance chief, Tom Fletcher, arsenic good arsenic the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, of someway being affiliated with Hamas.

Danon provided nary evidence.

Responding successful penning the pursuing day, Fletcher said, “I expect the Israeli authorities to instantly stock immoderate grounds that led them to marque specified claims.”

Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon has presented unsupported claims to the UN that unit members of the assistance agency, the Office Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, are moving with Hamas [File: Brendan McDermid/Reuters]

In January 2024, Israel accused different UN assistance body, the UN Relief and Works Agency, of moving with Hamas.

An autarkic reappraisal into Israel’s allegations concluded successful April 2024 that it had provided nary grounds to enactment its claim.

Is Hamas stealing aid?

Not according to Israel’s subject and its main ally, the US.

Citing unnamed Israeli subject officials, The New York Times reported connected Saturday that the UN assistance cognition was comparatively reliable and little susceptible to interference than others, adding that determination was nary grounds Hamas regularly stole from the UN.

An interior study by the US’s improvement agency, USAID, successful precocious June besides concluded that determination was nary grounds of the systematic looting of US-provided assistance by Hamas.

So far, the lone grounds of assistance being systematically looted points to criminal gangs present partnering with Israel and the GHF.

People transportation alleviation supplies from the GHF, a backstage US-backed assistance radical that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led strategy successful the territory [Eyad Baba/AFP]

So, wherefore isn’t assistance reaching radical successful Gaza?

Months of Israel’s siege person led to the effectual breakdown of Gaza’s society, with nutrient convoys astatine hazard of being overwhelmed by starving, hopeless crowds, the UN says.

To present assistance to wherever it is needed, the UN would request the enactment of the Israeli military.

On Wednesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said fractional of the 16 nutrient organisation requests submitted to the Israeli subject had been refused.

“Bureaucratic … and different operational obstacles imposed by Israeli authorities; ongoing hostilities and entree constraints wrong Gaza; and incidents of transgression looting, and much shooting incidents that person killed and injured radical gathering to offload assistance supplies on convoy routes” person constricted efforts to present aid, Dujarric told reporters.

What is the result of that?

Starvation. As we noted above, 122 people, astir of whom are children, person already died of starvation successful Gaza.

Death done hunger occurs implicit 3 stages.

The archetypal starts arsenic aboriginal arsenic a skipped meal; the 2nd comes with immoderate prolonged play of fasting erstwhile the assemblage relies connected stored fats for energy.

The third, and often fatal, signifier is erstwhile each stored fats person been depleted and the assemblage turns to bony and musculus arsenic sources of energy.

It is, according to Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan, a British-Egyptian paediatrician and neurologist who has volunteered successful Gaza, “a precise cruel, dilatory death”.

Why person much children died than adults?

Because their bodies are utilizing little to bash more.

Children, particularly infants and toddlers, person overmuch little musculus and abdominous to gully connected during famine, portion their basal metabolism is moving harder arsenic they grow.

The result is that they person a much-reduced buffer erstwhile nutrient intake stops.

What are the chances that Israel’s siege mightiness end?

Nobody knows.

Netanyahu’s right-wing conjugation has truthful acold seemed immune to planetary outrage and interior dissent implicit its warfare connected Gaza.

It dismisses the accusations of engaging successful crimes against humanity and disregarding planetary instrumentality arsenic “anti-Semitic” and “blood libel”.

In the minds of astir analysts, the lone powerfulness with the power susceptible of restraining Israel successful Gaza and the portion is US President Donald Trump.

However, predicting however the notoriously mercurial US president whitethorn behave is mostly regarded arsenic a occupation beyond the abilities of astir analysts.