'Israel’s' blockade causes 326 deaths, 300+ miscarriages in Gaza
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The Gaza Government Media Office reports 326 deaths and more than 300 miscarriages due to "Israel’s" blockade, as famine looms and humanitarian aid remains blocked.
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Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP)
"Israel's" brutal blockade on humanitarian aid has killed hundreds of Gazans, in addition to a sharp rise in miscarriages, the Gaza Government Media Office announced in a statement.
"The Israeli occupation's starvation policy in Gaza has led to the deaths of 326 people due to malnutrition and lack of food and medicine, along with over 300 miscarriages among pregnant women in just 80 days," the office stated.
Hamas: Netanyahu using Doha delegation to mislead global opinion
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said Tuesday that the Israeli delegation currently in Doha lacks any real authority and is part of an “exposed attempt by Benjamin Netanyahu to mislead global public opinion.”
In an official statement, Hamas noted that the Israeli team has been extending its stay in the Qatari capital on a day-by-day basis since Saturday without entering into any serious negotiations.
The group criticized Netanyahu’s recent remarks on humanitarian aid to Gaza as a "smokescreen" aimed at deceiving the international community.
“No aid has entered the Gaza Strip so far,” Hamas said, clarifying that “the few trucks that did reach the Kerem Shalom crossing were not received by any international body.”
Hamas also pointed to the continued Israeli assault on Gaza and the recent release of Israeli captive Idan Alexander as further evidence of Netanyahu’s rejection of a ceasefire agreement.
“This escalation, combined with the presence of delegations in Doha, exposes Netanyahu’s true intentions: to refuse a settlement and cling to war,” the statement read.
Harrowing statistics
According to the Media Office, the severe conditions have led to devastating fatalities over 80 days of total blockade and siege: 58 deaths from malnutrition, 242 deaths, mostly elderly, due to shortages of food and medicine, 26 kidney failure patients who perished from lack of proper nutrition and medical care, and over 300 miscarriages among pregnant women caused by critical nutrient deficiencies.
"Since March 2, 2025, the Israeli occupation has barred all humanitarian aid and fuel trucks from entering Gaza, despite the urgent need for at least 44,000 truckloads of supplies to meet the population’s most basic survival needs. Meanwhile, all border crossings remain completely sealed, in blatant violation of international laws and norms, while the world watches in silence," the statement highlighted.
Additionally, the office noted that many blood donation campaigns have failed due to the malnutrition many residents are facing, at a time when the medical sector in Gaza tries to treat the thousands of wounded in critical need of blood transfusions.
The office held "Israel" fully responsible for this escalating famine, along with the US administration and nations complicit in the war on Gaza; particularly the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, through their silence, and direct support of these crimes, whether through political cover or military and logistical aid.
The statement called on all nations, the international community, the United Nations, and humanitarian and human rights organizations to "break their shameful silence and take urgent, immediate action to open all crossings, allow the entry of food, medicine, and fuel into the Gaza Strip, and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians before it is too late. Gaza requires the daily entry of 500 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks for vital medical and humanitarian facilities."
Additionally, the office called on the International Criminal Court and human rights organizations to fulfill their moral and legal duties by prosecuting Israeli occupation leaders as war criminals, holding them accountable before international justice, and stopping these atrocities that defy all human limits.
Israeli airstrikes kill 85 in Gaza
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation continued its relentless assault on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with intensified strikes reported across multiple regions, resulting in the deaths of at least 85 Palestinians since dawn, according to local health authorities and Al Mayadeen correspondents.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported an Israeli airstrike in the eastern part of Gaza City, followed by shelling that injured three civilians near the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in the al-Saftawi area, north of the city. Additional injuries were reported after an Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Jarn area in Jabalia al-Balad, located in the northern Gaza Strip.
Simultaneously, Israeli forces struck the al-Ghafari junction on al-Jalaa Street and a residential home in the al-Shuja'iya neighborhood, resulting in two fatalities and multiple injuries.
Central Gaza Strip also targeted
In central Gaza, Israeli artillery shelled areas north of the Nuseirat refugee camp. A drone strike near the al-Sawarha cemetery, south of the camp, killed one Palestinian and left several others wounded.
The al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza reported receiving ten injured civilians, including five children, following a strike on the vicinity of the Ahram Tower, north of al-Zawaida town.
In Deir al-Balah, ongoing Israeli drone strikes claimed the lives of two people and wounded several others. Meanwhile, Israeli naval gunboats continued to fire at the Gaza coastline, further escalating the situation.
Escalation in Southern Gaza
In southern Gaza, Israeli warplanes launched multiple strikes across Khan Younis, targeting residential homes in Bani Suhaila and New Abasan.
A separate strike hit a home in the al-Rumeida area, while an Israeli drone bombed Tower A4 in the Hamad City complex in northwestern Khan Younis. Another house in New Abasan was also bombed.
Overnight, more than 17 people were martyred as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. While the occupation bombed various areas across the Strip, it intensified its strikes in recent hours on Khan Younis in the south, particularly its eastern areas, from which it had previously ordered residents to evacuate.
No aid has been distributed in Gaza: UN
In a related context, the United Nations stated on Tuesday that no aid had reached the Gaza Strip yet, despite "Israel’s" decision the previous day to permit limited humanitarian deliveries following an 11-week blockade on the Palestinian enclave, where experts warn that famine is now imminent.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric reported that four trucks carrying baby food were delivered to the Palestinian side of the border on Monday, followed by a few dozen trucks transporting flour, medicine, nutritional supplies, and other essentials into Gaza on Tuesday.
"Israeli authorities are requiring us to offload supplies on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing and reload them separately once they secure our team's access from inside the Gaza Strip," Dujarric told reporters.
A UN team spent hours waiting for Israeli authorization to enter the Kerem Shalom crossing and retrieve the nutritional aid, but ultimately failed to transport the supplies back to their warehouse, according to the spokesperson.
