International

Over 100 humanitarian groups warn of mass starvation in Gaza

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2025

Gaza's population relies almost entirely on humanitarian aid to survive

Over 100 humanitarian groups warn of mass starvation in Gaza

More than 100 international aid organisations and human rights groups are warning of mass starvation in Gaza and pressing for governments to take action.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam are among the signatories of a joint statement that says their colleagues and the people they serve are “wasting away”.

Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, denies it is responsible for the increasingly severe food shortages.

The organisations’ warning comes as the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said another 10 Palestinians had died as a result of malnutrition in the last 24 hours.

That brings the number of such deaths across Gaza since Sunday to 43, according to the ministry.

The UN has reported that hospitals have admitted people in a state of severe exhaustion caused by a lack of food, and that others were said to be collapsing in the streets.

“As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families,” the 109 humanitarian organisations said in the statement published on Wednesday.

“With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.”

The UN says almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Gaza

Israel imposed a total blockade of aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on the armed group to release its remaining Israeli hostages.

Although the blockade was partially eased after almost two months, amid warnings of a looming famine from global experts, the shortages of food, medicine and fuel have worsened.

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“Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people. Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration,” the humanitarian organisations warned.

“An aid worker providing psychosocial support spoke of the devastating impact on children: ‘Children tell their parents they want to go to heaven, because at least heaven has food.'”

The World Health Organization has said almost 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.

Dr Ahmad al-Farra, the head of paediatrics at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told the BBC that no food had been available for three days.

He said children come to his unit going through varying degrees of starvation.

Some were malnourished and died in the hospital’s care, he added. Others came with separate health issues that prevented nutrients from being absorbed by their bodies.

“We were afraid we would reach this critical point – and now we have,” he said.

The humanitarian organisations also noted that the UN says it has recorded the killing by the Israeli military of more than 1,050 Palestinians trying to get food since 27 May – the day after the controversial aid distribution mechanism run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating as an alternative to the UN-led mechanism.

According to the UN human rights office, 766 people have been killed in the vicinity of the GHF’s four aid sites, which are located inside Israeli military zones and operated by US private security contractors. Another 288 people have been killed near UN and other aid convoys.

The Israeli military says its troops deployed near the GHF sites have only fired warning shots and that they do not intentionally shoot civilians, while the GHF says the UN is using “false and misleading” figures from Gaza’s health ministry.

The humanitarian organisations also said almost all of Gaza’s population has been displaced and is now confined to less than 12% of the territory not covered by Israeli evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones, making aid operations untenable.

And they said an average of only 28 lorry loads of aid is being distributed in Gaza each day.

“Just outside Gaza, in warehouses – and even within Gaza itself – tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sit untouched with humanitarian organisations blocked from accessing or delivering them.”

The UN says Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation under international law to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches all the population in need.

Israel insists it acts in accordance with international law and facilitates the entry of aid while ensuring it does not reach Hamas.

It has acknowledged recently that there has been a significant drop in supplies reaching Palestinians but blamed UN agencies.

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Israeli military body Cogat, which co-ordinates the entry of aid into Gaza, wrote on X on Monday that almost 4,500 lorry loads had entered Gaza over the past two months, including 2,500 tonnes of baby food and high-calorie special food for children.

It also published drone footage showing what it said was some of the 950 lorry loads of aid waiting to be collected by the UN and other international organisations on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.

“The collection bottleneck remains the main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” Cogat said.

The UN has repeatedly said it struggles to get the necessary Israeli authorisation to collect incoming supplies with Gazan drivers from inside the crossing points and transport it through military zones.

The ongoing hostilities, badly damaged roads, and severe fuel shortages have exacerbated problems. Criminal looting by armed gangs has also sometimes stopped operations.

The UN has said a major problem in recent weeks has been that it is struggling to get commitments from the Israeli military that desperate Palestinians will not be killed while trying to collect aid from its convoys.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told a briefing on Tuesday: “In too many cases where UN teams are permitted by Israel to collect supplies from closed compounds near Gaza’s crossings, civilians approaching these trucks come under fire despite repeated assurances that troops would not engage or be present.”

“This cannot be stressed enough that this unacceptable pattern is the opposite of what facilitating humanitarian operations should look like. Absolutely no one should have to risk their lives to get food.”

The humanitarian organisations said they “cannot continue to hope that current arrangements will work” and that it is time for governments to “take decisive action”.

“Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire; lift all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions; open all land crossings; ensure access to everyone in all of Gaza; reject military-controlled distribution models; restore a principled, UN-led humanitarian response and continue to fund principled and impartial humanitarian organisations.”

“States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition,” they added.

On Monday, the foreign ministers of the UK and 27 other countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry said the statement was “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas”.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 59,106 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Over 100 humanitarian groups warn of mass starvation in Gaza

BBC

Related Topics:Gaza humanitarian Israel Starvation

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Health

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

Published

14 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Hamdalat Bisiriyu

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

Authorities launch a multi-agency public health campaign to expand free testing, treatment, and harm-reduction services

Fiji has announced a nationwide health response to address a significant rise in HIV cases and ensure that all residents can access essential medical care.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Dr. Atonio Lalabalavu shared the emergency declaration, explaining that national agencies are joining forces to provide rapid medical support, expand testing, and protect community well-being across the islands.

Official reports indicate that about one in every 60 adults in Fiji currently lives with HIV, following an increase in new infections over recent years. Health specialists explain that the virus spreads primarily through intimate sexual contact and shared needles among individuals using illicit substances.

Additionally, routine screenings revealed that two out of every 100 expecting mothers carry the virus, highlighting an urgent need for early maternal healthcare to protect newborns from infection.

To safeguard public health, authorities are delivering free daily treatments, distributing protective preventive medications, and setting up clean needle programs to stop infections before they start.

Furthermore, global partners, including Australia, New Zealand, India, and United Nations health bodies are providing financial resources and medical supplies to back the local effort.

By encouraging open community conversations and delivering accessible healthcare without judgment, health workers aim to ensure that everyone receives the care and dignity they deserve.

Fiji Declares National HIV Emergency as Diagnoses Surge Sixteenfold

International

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

Published

14 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Trends Admin

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has declared that her country’s status as a nuclear weapons state is “absolute” and can never be reversed — dismissing international hopes for denuclearisation as the delusions of “idiots.”

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, Kim rejected the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference’s demand for North Korea’s “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” (CVID) as “familiar nonsense” . “The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state is absolute, which cannot be reversed by anything,” she said, using the acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea .

Kim, who serves as Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, compared the international community’s repeated calls for denuclearisation to “noise that is neither surprising nor new, heard constantly around this time every year like a sound ringing day and night from an answering machine” . She went on to assert that no amount of diplomatic pressure could alter Pyongyang’s position. “No matter how desperately the IAEA and the West may hold periodic meetings and talk about denuclearisation according to the fixed scenario, they can have no effect on the will and ability of the DPRK to take all necessary measures to defend the supreme interests of the state” . She added: “Those humans sitting together and chattering to try and change our state’s current status must clearly realise what a pathetic delusion and futile waste of effort it is” .

Kim’s statement came during the 70th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, where South Korea and European nations urged North Korea to fulfil its international obligations and abandon its nuclear programme . A South Korean Unification Ministry official said the ministry was “taking note” of Kim’s remarks, assessing them as an attempt to make clear to Washington that denuclearisation is off the table for any potential summit . The timing is particularly noteworthy given recent signals from US President Donald Trump about resuming dialogue with Kim Jong Un. In August 2026, Trump told reporters he expected to meet the North Korean leader later in the year, saying: “Yeah, I will be. I get along with him very well” . Trump also stated that Pyongyang possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, marking the first time he had publicly cited a specific figure for North Korea’s arsenal .

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The disclosure sparked a rare public discussion of intelligence assessments. South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers that Seoul typically estimates North Korea has 80 to 120 nuclear weapons — a figure higher than Trump’s claim . Ahn noted that the estimates held by South Korea and the United States “appear to be slightly different,” though he later clarified that he was citing a private research institute’s assessment rather than an official military figure . Both Seoul and Washington have maintained they do not recognise North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. “We can never officially acknowledge that,” Ahn said when asked whether Seoul accepts Pyongyang’s nuclear possession . Independent estimates vary. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has estimated that North Korea possessed approximately 60 nuclear warheads as of January 2026, with sufficient fissile material for roughly 30 more .

Ahead of the General Conference, the IAEA released its annual report detailing North Korea’s expanding nuclear capabilities. The agency observed that a new uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon — identified as the site’s second enrichment facility — could accommodate up to 28 centrifuge cascades, the largest scale among North Korea’s known enrichment sites . The IAEA identified the facility by comparing satellite imagery with photographs of Kim Jong Un’s June 2026 visit to a “newly inaugurated nuclear materials production factory,” which state media reported at the time. The photographs indicated gas centrifuge cascades installed on both the upper and lower floors of the two-storey building . The report also noted indications that operations began in January 2026 at a uranium enrichment facility in Kangson, near Pyongyang, within an annex constructed in 2024 . IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the developments were a “cause for serious concern,” adding: “The continuation and further development of the DPRK’s nuclear programme are clear violations of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and are deeply regrettable” . The European Union, in a statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, condemned North Korea’s “unlawful and destabilising actions” and urged it to abandon all nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible manner” .

Kim’s remarks are consistent with North Korea’s long-standing position. Pyongyang has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons state, declaring its arsenal permanent and irreversible. The country has repeatedly rejected denuclearisation as a precondition for dialogue . North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in Vienna said last September that the country’s status as a nuclear weapons state had become irreversible and the IAEA had “no legal right … to interfere in the internal affairs of a nuclear weapons state which exists outside the NPT” . Analysts note that North Korea has set high barriers for any renewed summit with Washington, including major changes to US policy and acceptance of its nuclear status — conditions the Trump administration has shown no sign of meeting . The US State Department has maintained that Washington “remains committed to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea” . For now, Kim’s message was unambiguous: “No one and nothing can ever reverse the crucial changes in the strength and position of the DPRK and prevent them in the future, too” .

Kim Yo-jong: Only ‘Idiots’ Think North Korea Will Give Up Nuclear Weapons

International

Gaza Building Collapse Kills 21, Including Eight Children

Published

16 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Trends Admin

Gaza Building Collapse Kills 21, Including Eight Children

At least 21 people have been killed, including eight children, after a war-damaged building collapsed in Gaza City overnight, rescuers and medics say. The tragedy has renewed concerns about the collapse risk facing hundreds of bomb-damaged structures across the Gaza Strip as winter approaches.

The six-storey residential building in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa area collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday. According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Ramiz Alakbarov, an estimated 100 people, including 50 children, were living in the building when it came down. The Gaza Civil Defence agency confirmed that rescuers extracted 21 bodies and rescued 20 unharmed individuals from the rubble on al-Sinaa Street in Tal al-Hawa. Dozens remain missing or injured underneath the debris.

Witnesses told the BBC that the building had been left tilting dangerously to one side after an Israeli strike more than a year ago. Displaced families had moved inside because they were desperate, with nowhere else to go. The building had been hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, leading to warnings for Gazans not to return, according to Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal. More than 10 families, totalling around 80 people, lived in the building, according to residents, with dozens of them being children. Sherif, whose sister was killed, said: “They couldn’t find a tent or somewhere to live. This was the last place they could turn to, despite the danger. They were aware that it would likely end in tragedy. A lack of resources drove them towards certain death.“

A woman living in a tent nearby, Umm Mohammed Bakrun, said she had been talking to her son when the building collapsed suddenly. “It felt like an earthquake. There was a loud sound and I couldn’t stand up. Stones rained down on us and when I looked outside I saw a lot of dust,” she told the BBC. “Within minutes, there were screams everywhere.” Another witness, Mansour Abu Mohammed, said the building collapsed “in a few seconds”. “Every day, a stone or a few stones would fall from it, but the people inside couldn’t find anywhere else to live. I used to live next door to it and you could see that it was tilting to one side.”

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UN and Egyptian teams joined the search for survivors, which was slow due to a lack of heavy machinery. Initially, rescuers from the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency had to use their bare hands. Egypt provided heavy machinery for the rescue operation, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were set to deliver relief items. The Palestinian Civil Defence said rescue teams had been working continuously since the collapse, but lacked even the most basic tools. “In the first moments after the collapse, we had to ask neighbours and displaced people nearby to bring hammers, shovels and other tools because of the severe shortage of equipment,” said Abdullah al-Majdalawi, director of public relations at Gaza’s Civil Defence. The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Gaza office, Alessandro Mrakic, told reporters at the scene that “the situation… is tragic because we don’t have the equipment and machinery that is needed”.

Mrakic warned that approximately 400 other war-damaged buildings across Gaza were at imminent risk of collapse, particularly as winter approaches. The Civil Defence agency has identified around 2,000 buildings across the territory at risk of collapse. “We need support, most importantly with machinery, equipment, among others. Our colleagues here don’t have [engine] oil and spare parts to continue to work with all the equipment that is still in Gaza.” The UN’s humanitarian relief coordinator, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he was “devastated” by the reports. “No-one should have to risk their life simply to find a safe place to shelter,” he said. He also urged Israeli authorities to approve deliveries to Gaza of heavy machinery for rescue operations, as well as tents, tarpaulins and other non-food items for displaced people ahead of the winter rains. Israel says its restrictions are meant to keep equipment out of the hands of Palestinian armed groups that could also have military uses.

An estimated 80% of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN. More than 1.9 million people — about 90% of the territory’s population — have been displaced, many of them multiple times, and 1.2 million of them are currently living in tents or makeshift shelters. The UN has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire despite the ceasefire agreed last October, as Israeli air strikes and other attacks continue to hit populated areas, causing casualties and property damage and driving further displacement. According to Gaza’s health ministry, 1,369 Palestinians have been killed and 4,627 wounded since the fragile ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025. The total death toll since the war began has reached 73,783, with 174,738 injured.

On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes killed at least five Palestinians, including two children and a Hamas commander, according to health officials and Hamas sources. The Israeli military said it killed a Hamas commander in southern Gaza and another fighter in the north. In both cases, a child was also reportedly killed. Separately, the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said that a patient was killed by an Israeli drone at a health centre it supports in Jabalia in northern Gaza. A spokesperson for the Israeli military told the BBC it was not aware of such an incident.

The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Since then, more than 73,790 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. In a statement, the Gaza government media office under Hamas said it held “the Israeli occupation and the international community fully and directly responsible for this catastrophe befalling our Palestinian people“.