Blockade dynamics, Rafah constraints, mortality trends, and acute risks
Starvation in Gaza has escalated sharply under the combined effect of airstrikes and prolonged blockades on food, fuel, and medical supplies. Humanitarian agencies report that restrictions have reduced imports to a fraction of normal levels, while farmland and local markets have been devastated by bombardment. The result is an artificial famine that leaves entire communities dependent on sporadic aid deliveries, which are often delayed or blocked entirely.
The blockade has been enforced primarily by Israel but requires Egypt’s cooperation at the Rafah border crossing in the south. Egypt has generally kept Rafah restricted, citing both security concerns and political pressure, allowing only tightly limited aid convoys and evacuations. As a result, Gaza’s population is trapped with minimal inflow of food and medical goods. Humanitarian officials describe Rafah as a “lifeline under permanent squeeze,” with Cairo balancing international appeals against regional security calculations.
Since the beginning of intensified bombings and restrictions in late 2023, Gaza has recorded deaths from starvation nearly every day. Current field data suggest an average of 12–20 starvation deaths per day, with approximately 700–1,200 deaths in the past two months linked directly to malnutrition and dehydration. Children and the elderly account for the majority of these fatalities. Limited medical infrastructure means that secondary complications—such as infections that would normally be treatable— often become fatal when combined with malnutrition.
Starvation rarely comes alone. Severe malnutrition has driven spikes in anemia, stunted growth among children, and weakened immunity, leaving people highly vulnerable to disease outbreaks. Water scarcity compounds the problem: desalination plants are inoperable without fuel, and sewage systems are failing. Doctors report growing cases of kidney failure, heart stress, and preventable maternal deaths—all made worse by hunger and lack of protein in diets.
Humanitarian monitors warn that the daily death toll could climb into the dozens if conditions remain unchanged. Without large-scale, sustained entry of food and water through Rafah or alternative crossings, mortality will accelerate as household reserves disappear. Aid agencies are calling the situation a textbook famine in the making, one that is not the result of natural disaster but of deliberate political and military choices. For the civilian population, the immediate outlook is one of mounting hunger, disease, and preventable death.