UN Warns: 14,000 Gaza Children at Risk of Death Within 48 Hours Amid Aid Blockade
The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, has issued a chilling warning that more than 14,000 children in Gaza could die within the next 48 hours if immediate and sufficient humanitarian aid does not reach them.
According to Fletcher, the ongoing Israeli blockade of humanitarian assistance over the past three months has pushed Gaza’s entire population into what he described as a famine-like state, with children bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Fletcher described the limited aid currently entering Gaza as “a drop in the ocean,” stating it is grossly inadequate given the scale of the need. “We want to save as many of these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours,” he said, calling the situation “utterly chilling.”
Earlier this month, Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) reported that nearly 290,000 children are at risk of dying due to the ongoing blockade, which has cut off access to essential food, water, and medical supplies. According to their statement, 1.1 million children in Gaza now lack the basic nutritional intake required for survival.
The GMO accused Israeli authorities of deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war, stating: “This crime is being perpetrated by the Israeli occupation using starvation as a weapon, amid shameful international silence.”
So far, at least 57 Palestinians, many of them children and infants, have reportedly died of starvation. These deaths have intensified global outrage, as the denial of food and essential aid is widely recognized as a war crime under international law.
Israel’s war on Gaza, now entering its 19th month, has already claimed the lives of more than 53,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children. According to the latest update from Gaza’s Government Media Office, the death toll may be as high as 61,700, with thousands still missing beneath rubble and presumed dead.
This is no longer just a conflict, it is a humanitarian catastrophe. Children are starving to death, hospitals are overwhelmed, and families are being wiped out while the world watches. The international community must act immediately to end the blockade and ensure full access to humanitarian relief before more lives, especially those of children, are lost.
