TUNIS, July 30. /TASS/. At least 154 people, including 89 children, have recently died of starvation in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the radical Hamas movement said on Telegram.
"To date, 154 Palestinians have died of starvation, including 89 children, and hundreds of people suffer from malnutrition every day amid the near-complete collapse of the health system," the statement said.
According to Hamas, 40,000 infants and 60,000 pregnant women are suffering from the cessation of food, medicine and infant formula supplies to the enclave.
According to Hamas, currently "most of the aid is being airlifted to the dangerous areas that were previously evacuated, making these supplies ineffective and endangering the lives of civilians. Lifting the blockade and immediately opening the checkpoints is the only solution that can end the catastrophe in Gaza," the text reads.
International humanitarian aid stopped on March 2. Israel keeps all checkpoints closed, and food distribution is carried out through a system of points operated by Israel and the United States via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
On July 29, the Gaza Health Ministry said that a total of 60,034 people had been killed and 145,870 injured in the Israeli military operation in the enclave since October 2023.
The situation in the Middle East sharply deteriorated after the penetration of armed Hamas supporters from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of the border settlements and hostage-taking. The radicals called this attack a response to Israel’s actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Israel blockaded Gaza and launched a military operation in the sector to free the hostages and destroy the Hamas fighting potential.
In March, the Israeli army resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, interrupting a ceasefire established in January.
Several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, were a failure.