Aid groups warned Monday that the Gaza Strip is on the brink of “irreversible humanitarian collapse” unless hostilities cease immediately, as at least 21 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave and hospitals reported six new deaths from famine, including a child.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that since the war began, at least 60,839 Palestinians have been killed and 149,588 wounded. Israel says 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive during the Hamas‑led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war.
On Monday, medical sources said Israeli forces fired on crowds near aid distribution hubs, killing and wounding people who were searching for food. Al‑Awda Hospital reported seven aid seekers were killed and 20 wounded in central Gaza, while emergency services said two more people, including a woman, were killed and at least 20 injured near the GHF aid point in Rafah’s al‑Shakoush neighborhood.
Other strikes across the strip added to the toll: three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Deir el‑Balah, two were killed in Beit Lahiya, and seven more died in shelling in Gaza City’s Shujayea neighborhood, hospitals said.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry confirmed six people, including a child, died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll from hunger‑related causes to 181 since the war began, including 94 children. Aid workers say desperation is so severe that many residents risk approaching aid hubs despite fears of Israeli fire. “People are exhausted, malnourished and still willing to risk their lives to find food for their families,” one local aid worker said.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said more than 22,000 aid trucks remain blocked outside the territory, while an average of 84 trucks per day have entered since Israel partially eased restrictions on July 27. Aid groups say at least 600 trucks are required daily to meet basic needs.
Hamas said it is open to the International Committee of the Red Cross delivering supplies to Israeli hostages if Israel opens “humanitarian corridors” for Gaza’s civilians.
Local residents and emergency workers also reported Israel using suicide drones and heavy ground fire against civilians near aid sites, particularly women and children searching for food and water. The reports could not be independently verified.
Humanitarian agencies told Al Jazeera that Gaza is “spiraling into collapse” without a ceasefire. “The situation is beyond catastrophic,” one aid official said.
