UN humanitarian officials reported Tuesday that United Nations staff in the Gaza Strip have been collapsing from hunger and extreme exhaustion, underscoring the deepening humanitarian crisis. The increasing physical toll on aid workers has intensified global concerns over the survival of the civilian population in the war-torn enclave, where access to food, water and medical supplies remains critically limited.
Juliette Touma, director of communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stated that medical personnel, journalists and humanitarian workers, including UN staff, were fainting while performing their duties, emphasizing that “seeking food has become as deadly as the bombardments.”
The severity of the situation in the Gaza Strip is further evidenced by new data published in a statement from the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), which documented over 1,000 Palestinian civilians killed while attempting to access food aid since late May. The development comes amid a sharp rise in the cost of basic commodities, including flour, which has reportedly reached up to $200, placing additional strain on displaced families.
Compounding these challenges, recent Israeli military operations have directly targeted humanitarian infrastructure, including a World Health Organization (WHO) staff compound in Deir Al-Balah that was struck and subsequently raided. WHO reported on Monday that its personnel were detained at gunpoint, while the destruction of medical warehouses further debilitated Gaza’s health system, which is now operating roughly 6 percent of its capacity. Civilians too, are routinely targeted, highlighting how international humanitarian law continues to be sidetracked in times of conflict.
The latest incident at the WHO staff compound in Deir Al-Balah is not an isolated one. In 2023, artillery shelling linked to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations damaged the last functioning flour mill in the area, contributing to rising famine rates in the region. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its initial order on provisional measures, acknowledged the use of starvation tactics and noted that the worsening “catastrophic living conditions” in Gaza. The court ordered Israel to take active steps to ensure the unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance.
The use of starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited under Article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Ongoing violations of international law and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip have prompted calls for greater international intervention, with some legal experts and human rights groups warning of what they describe as a “genocide in the making” due to the scale and nature of the actions carried out by Israeli forces against the Palestinian people.
