ActionAid Ireland warns two-month aid blockade pushes Gaza to brink of famine

The eight-week long aid blockade in Gaza is pushing the already beleaguered population to famine and a devastating human catastrophe, ActionAid Ireland warned today.

Speaking two months to the day since Israeli authorities reinstated a complete siege on Gaza, blocking all food, medicine, and humanitarian aid from entering,  ActionAid Ireland CEO, Karol Balfe, warned:

“The consequences of this unconscionable and illegal blockade have moved beyond crisis to catastrophe. People are desperate for anything to eat, and widespread famine is now imminent. This is a deliberate humanitarian catastrophe that worsens with each passing day.”

Ms Balfe said essential food items including meat, fruits, eggs, and dairy products have disappeared from markets, while remaining staples have reached prohibitively high prices.

She added: “Food production within Gaza has become nearly impossible, with agricultural land and infrastructure largely destroyed by bombing or under Israeli military control.”

“Most people now survive on a single daily meal, primarily consisting of pasta, rice, or canned food. This severe food scarcity and nutritional deficit is having devastating health impacts.”

Ms Balfe said: “The scale of human suffering we’re witnessing is beyond comprehension. Gaza’s humanitarian response system isn’t just strained, it’s on the verge of total collapse. The complete blockade imposed by Israeli authorities since March 2nd has severed the only lifeline sustaining Gaza’s population.”

“The Palestinian death toll now approaches 51,000 in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health, and is nearing 1,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The UN Secretary-General has called Gaza a “killing field” and warned that civilians in Gaza are in an “endless death loop.”

Ms Balfe said women and children are particularly suffering due to the blockade which constitutes a deliberate starvation campaign and collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population.

“Using food as a weapon of war is a war crime that demands immediate intervention.”

Dr. Wesal Abu Laban, a pediatric and neonatal doctor and head of Therapeutic Nutrition at ActionAid partner Al-Awda Community Association and Hospital in Nuseirat, Gaza, said there has been a dramatic increase in malnutrition cases.

“Almost a month ago, we started noticing an increase in cases of severe and moderate malnutrition in children between six months and five years old.

“[Since then], there [has been] a deterioration, which means even the cases that were followed up with us previously and improved [have] started to [worsen], such as cases [of] severe malnutrition, which became moderate, then returned again to the severe state.

“Admission to the therapeutic nutrition centre began to increase.

“[We observed] a very large increase in the number of cases of pregnant and breastfeeding women, that had severe and moderate malnutrition. This is all a result of the last month of the siege and the closure of the crossings.

“There is no food entering, so all pregnant women suffer from anaemia and iron deficiency due to the lack of resources regarding food or nutritional supplements.

“This negatively affects the pregnancy, as most [babies] are born [under] the normal weight.

“Most of the cases that we see now, even the [babies delivered after the full nine-month term], have low birth weights under 2.5 kilograms. Of course, it has a close relationship with the nutrition of the pregnant mother herself.

“[There are] cases of miscarriage and bleeding that occur with [women] because they have anaemia while they are pregnant, so all of this negatively affects [their pregnancy]. [We have observed all of these issues] increasing in the last month, approximately from March until this moment.”

A fragile ceasefire in Gaza between January 19 and March 2, 2025 temporarily allowed essential humanitarian aid to reach civilians. This relief effort ended abruptly when Israel resumed military operations on March 18, resulting in 400 casualties in the first 24 hours.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed over 1,630 Palestinians, injured more than 4,200, and displaced approximately 419,300 people. Israel’s ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid contradicts international humanitarian law and defies a world court directive mandating the allowance of life-saving assistance.

The World Food Programme has recently declared that it has run out of food supplies within Gaza, exacerbating an already critical humanitarian situation.

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