Gaza war enters third year amid UN-declared famine and mass displacement

Two years after the conflict escalated on October 7, 2023, Gaza remains in ruins as Israel’s offensive grinds on and a UN-declared famine takes hold. Rights groups and humanitarian officials accuse Israel of engineering starvation by severely restricting food, water, fuel and aid, while Tel Aviv rejects the characterisation. The death toll has surpassed 67,000 Palestinians, according to figures cited by aid agencies.

The UN formally declared famine in parts of Gaza in late August. In September, a UN independent international inquiry concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, finding that four of the five acts listed in the 1948 Genocide Convention had been met. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher and other senior officials have renewed pleas for unimpeded humanitarian access.

Ramy Abdu of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Gaza’s hunger crisis was the product of deliberate policy. He argued that a years-long blockade, intensified after Israel announced a “complete siege” on October 9, 2023, stripped the enclave of food, water, electricity and fuel. Farmland destruction, fishing bans and repeated displacements have compounded the emergency, with women and children disproportionately affected.

Aid operations have been repeatedly disrupted, including by donor suspensions to UNRWA, strikes on warehouses and blocked convoys. In May 2025, Israel, with US support, launched the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a scheme criticised by the UN and NGOs for militarising relief through so-called “aid zones.” The UN human rights office estimates more than 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food, nearly 1,000 of them near GHF-linked sites.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 460 deaths are directly tied to hunger and famine, and one in five children in Gaza City is malnourished. The UN commission urged Israel to end the starvation policy, lift the siege and ensure large-scale aid access, including for UN staff and partners.

Overall casualties continue to mount. Aid agencies report over 28,000 women and girls and more than 20,000 children are among the dead. The war has been the deadliest for journalists in modern history, with nearly 250 media workers killed, and at least 383 aid personnel have also lost their lives. While Cairo hosts intermittent truce talks, Israeli strikes and ground operations continue across the enclave.