4-Year-Old Palestinian Girl Dies of Starvation as Israel Continues Blocking Aid, Leaving Thousands of Children Severely Malnourished in Gaza

At least four Palestinian children, including a 4-year-old girl and a 3-month-old infant, have died of starvation over the weekend, as Israel continues to restrict aid from entering the Gaza Strip for a fifth consecutive month.

Razan Abu Zaher was admitted to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital on June 11 for malnutrition. Her condition steadily worsened because "there is nothing to strengthen her," her mother told CNN, and she died of complications from malnutrition and hunger on Sunday.

Zaher is one of at least 76 children who have died of malnutrition in Gaza since October 2023, and one of 18 people who have died from famine in just the past 24 hours.

"Gaza is witnessing the worst phase of famine, which has reached catastrophic levels amid unprecedented international silence," Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, the spokesman for al-Aqsa Martyrs hospita, where Razan died, told CNN.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that emergency departments in Gaza are seeing an unprecedented number of starving people of all ages, arriving in extreme exhaustion. Since March 2, Israeli forces have allowed only minimal aid, including food, water, medical supplies, and fuel, into the enclave, currently home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Israel initially justified halting shipments by accusing Hamas of stealing and profiting from the aid, an allegation the political organization denied.

In May, the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) opened four aid distribution sites. Since then, nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces using gunfire and drones while attempting to access this aid.

Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the UN Security Council on Thursday that food supplies in Gaza were rapidly running out.

"Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed their families," he warned, per CNN. Fletcher also revealed that starvation rates among children had reached their highest levels in June, with more than 5,800 children diagnosed as acutely malnourished.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs echoed Fletcher's concerns on Friday, reporting "deeply troubling" cases of malnourished children and adults arriving at hospitals with scarce resources available to treat them properly. The humanitarian crisis is worsening as medical facilities struggle to cope with the influx of patients amid shortages of supplies and personnel.

"Honestly, I feel the lucky ones get killed immediately because [of] the horrible horrors that they're going to face with their extensive injuries, with inadequate nutrition, inadequate medical supplies, infections, maggots, [and] hospital-acquired infections," Sarmad Tamimy, a plastic surgeon volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, told CNN.