In a harrowing update from Gaza, international aid agencies are ringing alarm bells over a rapidly deepening famine. Oxfam, joined by more than 100 humanitarian organisations, has described the unfolding situation as a man-made catastrophe, worsened by what they term a “starvation-based crisis management model” imposed by Israeli authorities.
The Collapse of Aid and Rise of Hunger
What was once a robust, UN-led humanitarian aid system has been replaced by a militarised distribution network, now limited to just four entry points across Gaza. The daily volume of food trucks entering the strip has fallen from several hundred to merely 28 trucks, according to field data verified by Oxfam and Al Jazeera.
“We have not seen aid enter in any meaningful way,” said Ghada Al Haddad, Oxfam’s Media and Communications Officer in Gaza. “No seven, eight or even a hundred trucks will change our reality. This is not humanitarian relief. This is crisis management through starvation.”
Children Asking to Die—for Food
Perhaps the most devastating voices in this crisis are those of Gaza’s children. Aid workers and parents have reported deeply disturbing statements from young ones expressing their desire to die—not from hopelessness alone, but from hunger.
“My four-year-old niece says she wants to go to heaven,” Al Haddad shared. “When I asked her why, she said, ‘Because heaven has everything—figs, grapes, and chocolate.’”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres echoed similar reports in late July, stating that children are voicing a preference for death because “at least in heaven, there is food.”
A Humanitarian Breakdown in Numbers
According to verified figures from Oxfam and Save the Children:
- Over 65,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition.
- Thousands have been killed or injured attempting to access food in high-risk zones.
- In just one month, 500 people died and nearly 4,000 were wounded while waiting in food queues.
- Aid convoys are regularly delayed, rerouted, or denied entry altogether.
The mental toll is as devastating as the physical. Children are no longer dreaming of futures—they are longing for relief in the afterlife. Many are too weak to even cry.
“Mothers are terrified,” Al Haddad said. “Not of bombs—but that their children will die from hunger.”
Oxfam’s Urgent Demands
Oxfam and partner agencies are calling for:
- An immediate and lasting ceasefire
- Full, unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza
- Reinstatement of the UN-led aid coordination
- Release of all civilian hostages and detainees
- An end to the arms flow fueling this crisis
A Region’s Responsibility
From a Gulf perspective, the situation is more than a tragedy—it’s a test of global conscience and regional responsibility. Governments, humanitarian networks, and civil societies across the Arab world and beyond are being urged to escalate both diplomatic pressure and material support.
Editorial Note from The Gulf Talk
This is not a logistical failure. This is not simply a policy shortfall. What is unfolding in Gaza is a moral catastrophe—a siege that has stolen not only food and medicine but also the will to live from its youngest residents.
Children are dreaming of death because they believe heaven will feed them. That alone should stir the conscience of every global leader.
