Israel’s blockade in Gaza risks famine, malnutrition and more. How the world order responds

Tensions in the Gaza Strip have mounted to the point of breaking social order to obtain an ounce of edibles, pushing Palestinians to a severe famine risk anytime by September 30, reveals a report.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, released on May 12, classified 93% of Gaza’s population—1.95 million people—as facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity between April 1 and May 10, 2025.

Of the total 2.1 million analysed population, from more to less severe degrees, 12% are facing catastrophe, 44% emergency and 37% crisis, and the remaining 7% stressed. 

And, the situation is projected to worsen, with the entire population facing a crisis or worse levels of food insecurity between May 11 and September 30, 2025. Of which, 22% are expected to face catastrophe, 54% emergency, and the remaining 24% crisis.

To make it worse, nearly 71,000 annual cases of acute malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months, including 14,100 severe cases, are expected to occur between

April 2025 and March 2026. According to the report, nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition.

A UN news release from May 12 highlights that malnourished mothers struggle to produce enough nutritious milk, putting their babies at risk, while the delivery of counselling services for mothers is heavily compromised. For infants under six months, breastmilk is their best protection against hunger and disease, especially where clean water is scarce, as it is in Gaza.

These numbers vividly present lives in Gaza being robbed of basic human rights and hope for a better future, as international media reports horrific accounts of people scrambling for food with humiliation as the entry fee and sorrow as the exit.

The situation has only worsened since March 2, after Israel blocked humanitarian aid supplies distributed by UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations through a network of 400 aid centres operating across the Gaza Strip.

Those centres, operated by WFP, UNRWA, UNICEF and WHO among others, provided food assistance including high-energy biscuits for children and lactating mothers; health and nutrition services like vaccination, maternal health services, malnutrition screening, therapeutic feeding programs and temporary learning and play centres for children; and hygiene and dignity kits for women and girls, among others.

Over a million people depended on the WFP for food assistance, which the UN food assistance agency announced on April 25 had been depleted due to the blockade, leading to the closure of WFP-supported bakeries and the cessation of hot meal distributions.

Now, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private entity established in May and backed by Israel and the US, facilitates the aid distribution but from a sharply shrunk number of four centres—three located in the Tel al-Sultan area near the Morag Corridor in southern Gaza and one in the central region along the Netzarim Corridor. 

The UN criticised this move, citing concerns over the militarisation of aid distribution and the potential undermining of established humanitarian principles, calling the new mechanism “a death trap”, as exemplified by a series of deadly incidents at all its aid centres.

Between May 27 and June 3, Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinian civilians attempting to reach the centres, killing 102 people and injuring over 490, as Gaza authorities report. In response, GHF temporarily shut down all its centres, citing security concerns and the need to reassess its safety protocols.

Mahmoud Alsaqqa, Oxfam’s food security and livelihoods coordinator in Gaza, told Democracy Now, a US-based non-profit news organisation, that the new aid distribution mechanism is more about the humiliation and the control of Palestinians than feeding them.

The blockade preceded the official termination of the truce between Hamas and Israel on March 18, when the latter resumed military actions in the Gaza Strip to put pressure on Hamas to accept a US proposal for the permanent ceasefire.

Hamas has not outright rejected the proposal but has requested modifications to ensure a complete end to the conflict and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel, however, maintains that the conflict will only cease once Hamas is disarmed and eliminated.

On June 4, the US vetoed a resolution tabled at the Security Council, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The veto blocked the initiative, backed by all ten elected members of the Council, which in the draft document demanded the release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, expressing concerns over the catastrophic humanitarian situation, including the risk of famine, and the resumption of aid flow.

Acting US Representative Dorothy Shea turned down the draft, citing that it “fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza.” She added that Hamas has rejected numerous ceasefire proposals, including one over the weekend that would have provided a pathway to end the conflict and release the remaining hostages.

“We cannot allow the Security Council to award Hamas’ intransigence,” Shea said, stressing, “Hamas and other terrorists must have no future in Gaza. As Secretary [Marco] Rubio has said: ‘If an ember survives, it will spark again into a fire’.”

On the other hand, Arab nations like Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar have actively pursued diplomatic channels to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. 

On June 5, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reiterated the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and emphasised the need for a clear political horizon based on a two-state solution.

However, these diplomatic endeavours face challenges. For instance, Israel recently blocked a planned visit by foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE to the occupied West Bank, labelling it a provocative meeting intended to promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The European Union (EU) condemned the resumed Israeli attacks in Gaza, saying “[it] go beyond what is necessary to fight Hamas.”

About the new aid distribution mechanism, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said, “We don’t support the privatisation of the distribution of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian aid can not be weaponised.”

South Asia has mostly been passive on the West Asia conflict, while the Bangladesh government has condemned Israeli actions in Gaza, supporting South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice for genocide, and sending relief aid, including food and medical supplies, to Gaza during Ramadan.

The Nepal government has not taken any official stance, but the civil society—activists, students, political figures—have actively expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people through protests and public demonstrations in Kathmandu.

Additionally, the Sri Lankan government has expressed concern over the loss of life in Gaza and donated $1 million in humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, UNICEF reports that more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured since October 2023, including 1,309 children’s lives lost and 3,738 children injured since the end of the truce on March 18—the situation, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder called “unimaginable horrors.”

The UN agency for children called out the apathy of the international community in a press release, reading, “How many more dead girls and boys will it take? What level of horror must be livestreamed before the international community fully steps up, uses its influence, and takes bold, decisive action to force the end of this ruthless killing of children?”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was alarmed by the findings, especially that most children are now facing extreme hunger.

WFP chief Cindy McCain called on international communities to act urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. “If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.”

Photo: People including children in northern Gaza look for water amid appalling scarcity of their basic needs following the siege imposed by the Israeli authorities in March 2025, Photo taken in April 2025.