The Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, warned on Saturday of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, revealing that 70,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition, while over 250,000 people are facing advanced levels of food insecurity.

In a press statement, Al-Barsh described the situation in Gaza as catastrophic—both nutritionally and medically—accusing the Israeli occupation of deliberately starving civilians and then targeting them as they seek humanitarian aid.

He noted that Gaza is facing unprecedented shortages of food and clean water, and reported that health facilities have recently treated numerous cases of food poisoning linked to U.S.-supplied aid.

The Ministry of Health previously warned that emergency departments are overwhelmed with severely weakened and emaciated individuals of all ages. It reiterated that hundreds of people, whose bodies have wasted away, are now at imminent risk of death due to starvation and physiological collapse.

Backed by U.S. and European support, Israel has continued its genocidal assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 58,765 Palestinian civilians—mostly women and children—and injuries to 140,485 others as of today. Thousands more remain trapped under rubble or in areas inaccessible to ambulance and rescue crews, who are being blocked from reaching them.