The collapse of healthcare services in Gaza, the rights group noted, is a result of Israel having “methodically dismantled the Strip’s health system”.
A human rights group has documented the deaths of 26 Palestinians in Gaza, including nine children, in just 24 hours, due to starvation, malnutrition, and lack of medical treatment.
“These deaths are the result of a deliberate Israeli policy that weaponises hunger and denial of treatment to kill Palestinian civilians,” the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported this week.
In particular, deaths among the elderly, children, and the sick in the besieged enclave “have increased alarmingly due to starvation, malnutrition, and lack of medical treatment, under living conditions created by Israel to exhaust the Palestinian population.”
Deaths among the elderly, children, and the sick in the #Gaza Strip have increased alarmingly due to starvation, malnutrition, and lack of medical treatment, under living conditions created by Israel to exhaust the Palestinian population.
Euro-Med Monitor has documented the… pic.twitter.com/d2mDQkluyi
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 21, 2025
These conditions, Euro-Med Monitor noted, include intentional starvation, extreme suffering, “and the systematic deprivation of healthcare, along with a total blockade—all part of an ongoing genocide campaign that has now entered its 19th consecutive month.”
Collapse of Healthcare
The collapse of healthcare services in Gaza, the rights group noted, is a result of Israel having “methodically dismantled the Strip’s health system through a combination of siege and direct targeting”, forcing hospitals like Gaza European Hospital, in the south, and the Indonesian Hospital, in the north, to shut down completely.
All remaining medical facilities “are barely operational,” it stated.
Aid Blocked, Hospitals Crippled: WHO Urges Immediate Access to Gaza
Euro-Med Monitor pointed out that the “absence of an effective system within Gaza’s Ministry of Health to monitor these deaths means many are officially recorded as stemming from ‘natural causes’, despite being directly caused by deliberate starvation policies and the systematic collapse of the health system.”
The rights group stressed that Israel’s “clear pattern of intentional killing is prohibited under international humanitarian and criminal law.”
‘Harrowing’ Testimonies
Euro-Med Monitor’s field team collected “harrowing” testimonies from elderly individuals forcibly displaced, while starving, under Israeli evacuation orders.
“I live in a tent near my destroyed home in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis,” said Abdel Salam Qudeih, aged 76.
“The army published a map ordering us to evacuate. I couldn’t carry anything. I walked for three hours without having eaten for an entire day, until I reached Al-Mawasi in poor health. I couldn’t even bring medicine for my chronic illness,” Qudeih stated.
🧵Deaths among the elderly, children, and the sick in the #Gaza Strip have increased alarmingly due to starvation, malnutrition, and lack of medical treatment, under living conditions created by Israel to exhaust the Palestinian population pic.twitter.com/04WBKIm7op
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 21, 2025
Another elderly man in a wheelchair, artist Samir al-Kabariti, from Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighbourhood told Euro-Med Monitor: “I haven’t eaten for two or three days. I just want a piece of bread.”
Widad al-Sumairi, aged 73, fled from Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis, with her son’s family, walking several kilometres, unable to have taken anything with them.
“We have no food left,” al-Sumairi said. “For days, we’ve been eating half a small meal. The children are dehydrated. The displacement made our suffering worse.”
“Why are we starving and displaced again and again? Someone, please help us,” she stated.
Insufficient Aid
Israel has imposed a strict blockade on Gaza since March 2, denying the entry of humanitarian aid, including water, food, and medical supplies. On Sunday, Israel announced it would allow limited aid in, but by Wednesday, the Government Media Office said only 87 aid trucks had been allowed in, according to the Anadolu news agency.
A few UN-supported bakeries have resumed operations in Gaza following the entry of limited flour supplies.
But the UN warns that the 100 aid trucks allowed in by Israel are “nowhere near enough” to meet the needs of the entire population pic.twitter.com/o5fgVwlY6o
— TRT World (@trtworld) May 23, 2025
Euro-Med Monitor said there was “no tangible evidence of the aid Israel claims to have allowed in,” adding that on the first day, “just five trucks were reported to have entered.”
The situation “is worsened by ongoing Israeli bombardment, which destroys homes, shelters, and meagre food supplies whenever people are forcibly displaced,” the group said.
“Therefore, families are not only fleeing bombardment, but must face the threat of hunger with every new displacement,” it pointed out.
‘War Crimes’
Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that Israel’s actions “represent some of the most serious crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which classifies ‘wilful killing’ as causing death through means such as starvation and denial of medical care.”
Your voice is the dividing line between action and indifference. We urge you not only to speak up but to address Israeli authorities and your governments, demanding an immediate halt to the bombing and starvation in Gaza
HERE is what you can do⤵️https://t.co/rLqw1aLiJ9
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 22, 2025
“These acts qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians, which clearly describes Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip,” the rights group stated.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Monday that Gaza requires a minimum of 500 trucks daily carrying urgent relief and medical and food aid, along with at least 50 fuel trucks as life-saving necessities, Anadolu reported. This comes amid a worsening famine caused by Israel’s closure of border crossings for over two months.
Rising Death Toll
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 53,000, wounding more than 122,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Israeli occupation forces resumed their bombardment of several areas across the Gaza Strip on Friday, resulting in scores of casualties, including among humanitarian workers.https://t.co/62UsGfJRxd pic.twitter.com/dfCcSM5qZW
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 23, 2025
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
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The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
But the Israeli Nazis haven’t skipped any meals…they’re all scumbags. Maybe they’ll do the world a favor and kill each other.