Israel kills dozens in Gaza while famine spreads
Shafaq News – Gaza
Tens of people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Friday, amid intensifying international calls to confront the famine now unfolding in the strip.
Palestinian media reported that an attack on tents sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis left 12 dead, mostly women and children. Additional strikes targeted civilians waiting for aid in northern Gaza, killing six, while three more were reported dead in al-Waha, northwest of Gaza City.
حزن كبير ووجع لا ينتهي.. أم جريحة تودع ابنتها الطفلة التي قتلها الاحتلال بغاراته على غزة. pic.twitter.com/dtrdJzdema
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 23, 2025
Footage circulated of two-month-old Rasel Abu Masoud, who died at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis from complications of severe malnutrition. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, famine has now claimed 273 lives, including 112 children. Overall, casualties from Israel’s campaign since October 7, 2023, have reached 62,263 killed and 157,365 wounded.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the famine as “starvation by design and manmade by the Government of Israel,” stressing that warehouses in Jordan and Egypt are stocked with enough supplies to fill 6,000 trucks if access is granted. “Months of warnings have fallen on deaf ears,” he added, urging a ceasefire and pressing Israel to open crossings for humanitarian deliveries.
“The spread of famine can still be stopped. It is a matter of political will.”
#Famine in Gaza City can be stopped.Reverse the ongoing catastrophe - flood #Gaza with a massive scale up of aid through the United Nations including UNRWA.UNRWA’s warehouses alone in Jordan and Egypt are full.There is enough food, medicines and hygiene supplies ready to… pic.twitter.com/owm40GXuac
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 23, 2025
The declaration followed UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ warning that Gaza’s food crisis is a “moral indictment and a failure of humanity.” According to the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), more than half a million people are already in catastrophic “Phase 5” hunger, while over one million face emergency levels.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor described the UN announcement as proof that Israel has deliberately manufactured famine by blocking aid and destroying food sources. It called on the UN General Assembly to invoke the Uniting for Peace resolution to authorize a peacekeeping force that would “halt the ongoing crimes, ensure unrestricted access to crossings, secure food and medicine supplies, and protect civilians.”
The UN’s official declaration of famine in #Gaza requires an immediate response from the international community, particularly the UN General Assembly, by invoking its powers under the Uniting for Peace resolution to establish a peacekeeping force that would halt the ongoing… pic.twitter.com/GNiGMs7aQV
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) August 22, 2025
Palestinian factions accused Israel of weaponizing hunger against more than two million people, condemning what they described as international silence. They demanded urgent action under the Geneva Conventions to establish safe corridors for food and medicine without conditions.
