UNRWA: Blocking Aid to Gaza Is Driving a Man-Made Famine
UNRWA says the continued blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza is a deliberate policy causing mass starvation, with 76 children already dead from hunger.
UN agencies warn that aid restrictions on Gaza are fueling a man-made famine threatening the entire population. Photo: @PressTV
July 21, 2025 Hour: 2:45 am
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has condemned Israel’s blockade on Gaza as a man-made famine, calling for urgent global intervention. The agency warns that continued inaction amounts to complicity in the mass starvation of Palestinians.
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In a statement released Sunday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini revealed that the agency has been unable to deliver any humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip since March 2, despite having enough supplies just kilometers away to feed the entire population for three months.
Since October 2023, at least 86 people — including 76 children — have died from starvation in Gaza. Over 17,000 children are currently suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the UN. In May alone, 5,100 children required emergency hunger treatment.
“I’ve been looking for something to feed my children, but there is nothing,” read one of the messages received by Lazzarini. “How do you respond to such messages? It’s shameful and deepens the sense of helplessness,” he wrote on social media.
Describing the situation as a “man-made crisis” enabled by “the impunity granted to the Israeli authorities,” Lazzarini stressed that only a shift in political will can halt the starvation. “Only political will and leadership can reverse the total famine,” he stated.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli-imposed land, air and sea blockade since 2007, with restrictions on aid intensifying during the current military campaign. UNRWA officials insist that the blockage is not due to logistical issues but the deliberate denial of access.
UNICEF echoed the warnings, calling Gaza “the most dangerous place in the world for children.” Spokesperson Saleem Oweis said famine now threatens the entire population of the enclave, home to over two million people.
As Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe deepens, thousands of tons of aid remain stuck just beyond its borders. UNRWA warns that without immediate political action, silence will become complicity — and starvation a deliberate outcome.
Author: MK
Source: Hispan TV
