In Gaza, Starvation Doesn’t Just Kill.

A starving child becomes extremely vulnerable to infections like pneumonia and diarrhoea which then become fatal. The body prioritises survival, shutting down less critical systems. And eventually, vital organs like the heart, liver, and kidneys begin to fail. Infant brains cannot develop to their potential when deprived of basic nutrients. Even if the child survives, the long-term impact may be learning disabilities and lasting emotional scars.

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Parents are skipping meals for days at a time to feed one child, often at the expense of another. Some children have not seen fresh vegetables, milk, or protein in months. Health workers describe children arriving at hospitals limp, silent, and skeletal, too weak to eat, too malnourished to survive. There are estimates that in the last two days twelve infants and toddlers have died of starvation or hunger-related illness in Gaza. This is an understatement. Most children will not make it to what is left of the hospital system in Gaza and so their deaths go unreported. And for every child who dies there are thousands more who are on the edge.

The sight of a starving child is a traumatic shock so deep it can be life-altering. The even-harder reality of Gaza is that this starvation is not incidental. It is a consequence of actions taken by the Israeli Government. The systematic obstruction of aid, destruction of essential infrastructure, and targeting of humanitarian facilities has made the delivery of food to children an impossible task.

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Recently the War Child Alliance joined over 100 humanitarian agencies to warn of mass starvation in Gaza. War Child staff and our partners have been providing vital support to children and their families throughout the conflict reaching hundreds of thousands of children. For several weeks they have been struggling to find food. They have reached a critical point. They are weak from starvation but still, somehow, turning up to work. Statements alone are not enough. Words will neither break the siege nor feed Gaza’s children. Children need us all to act.

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The only way to stop the starvation of a million children is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, the resumption of full humanitarian operations and the restoration of basic services. We must have unhindered access for all humanitarian actors through all available crossings, with guaranteed safety for aid convoys. This access must also support the long-term psychological and physical recovery of children now living with severe malnutrition, many of whom will struggle to learn, grow, and live fully even after the bombs stop. And there must be an international investigation and accountability for the use of starvation as a weapon of war, under the frameworks of the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court.

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If we allow this to continue unchallenged, we set a precedent that starvation can be used again, elsewhere, against others as a tool of modern warfare. The post - war global resolve to never again allow mass war crimes is eroding.

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We asked a member of our Gaza team to give us his insights on how children are feeling in Gaza right now. He told us that "They need a chance to live, to breathe, to be children again. If the world still holds a beating heart, let it listen now."

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Gaza is being starved in full view of the world. The siege may be the Israeli government’s, but the silence is global.

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Jointly signed by the CEOs of:

War Child Netherlands

War Child UK

War Child Sweden

War Child Germany

Children in Conflict (a member of the War Child Alliance)

The War Child Alliance Foundation