The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Tuesday that 87 Palestinians, including eight recovered from under rubble, were killed in the past 24 hours, with 644 others injured. 

Since October 7, 2023, the death toll from the Israeli assault has climbed to 61,020, with 150,671 wounded. Between March 18, 2025, and today, there have been 9,519 killed and 38,630 injured.

Among those killed in the past 24 hours, 52 died while seeking humanitarian aid, and 352 others were injured. This brings the total toll of what Gaza health officials call "martyrs of livelihood" to 1,568, with more than 11,230 injured since the start of the war.

Hospitals also reported eight new deaths from famine and malnutrition in the past day, including one child and seven adults. The total number of deaths linked to starvation has now reached 188, among them 94 children.

UN expert accuses 'Israel' of systematic starvation in Gaza

The ministry’s daily toll comes more than 500 days after the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, first raised the alarm. Fakhri has reiterated that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is the result of a deliberate and systematic policy by “Israel” to starve the Palestinian population.

"‘Israel’ has built the most efficient starvation machine you can imagine," Fakhri told The Guardian on Monday, stressing that "It’s genocide. It’s a crime against humanity. It’s a war crime. I have been repeating it and repeating it and repeating it, I feel like Cassandra."

He emphasized that the international community and corporate actors can no longer claim ignorance. "All the information has been out in the open since early 2024."

Fakhri’s warnings date back to October 2023, when "Israel's" then-security minister, Yoav Gallant, declared a "complete siege" of Gaza, halting the flow of electricity, food, water, and fuel just two days after the October 7 operation. By December, Palestinians in Gaza accounted for 80% of the world’s catastrophic hunger cases, according to UN figures.

The Guardian report mentioned that in a February 2024 interview, Fakhri stated, "We have never seen a civilian population made to go so hungry so quickly and so completely… Intentionally depriving people of food is clearly a war crime."

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One month later, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) acknowledged the risk of genocide in Gaza, ordering "Israel" to allow humanitarian access and prevent starvation.

In May 2024, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former security minister Gallant were formally accused by an international court of using starvation as a weapon, a recognized war crime.

Humanitarian collapse amid Gaza blockade

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the worst-case scenario of famine is now playing out across the Gaza Strip. Between April and mid-July, more than 20,000 children were hospitalized with acute malnutrition. Starvation, disease, and a collapse of basic infrastructure have fueled a sharp increase in hunger-related deaths, according to The Guardian. 

Fakhri argues that this famine is not an unintended consequence, but the result of long-term policies:

"Famine is always political, always predictable, and always preventable. People don’t all of a sudden starve; they are deliberately weakened over time. The state of 'Israel' has used food as a weapon since its creation.”

The humanitarian crisis has worsened since March 2025, when "Israel" unilaterally ended a short-lived ceasefire following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Despite allowing limited aid during the ceasefire, the total blockade was reinstated.

As stated in the report, in May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private logistics group backed by "Israel" and the Trump administration, took over aid operations with armed escorts. It replaced 400 UN distribution points with just four hubs across Gaza.

On June 1, Israeli soldiers killed 32 Palestinians at GHF sites. Since then, over 1,300 starving civilians have been killed while trying to access food. Aid groups and the UN condemned GHF’s operation as a violation of international humanitarian law.

"This is using aid not for humanitarian purposes, but to control populations… GHF is so frightening because it might be the new militarized dystopia of aid," Fakhri said. GHF denied the reports, calling them “false and exaggerated,” and accused the UN of obstructing cooperation. “If the UN would collaborate, we could end the starvation,” said a spokesperson.

International inaction despite rising death toll

The famine-related deaths come in addition to more than 60,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli bombs and tanks, though independent estimates suggest the toll is much higher. "Israel" continues to block international journalists and researchers from entering Gaza, drawing further scrutiny.

Fakhri and other UN experts have repeatedly urged governments and corporations to impose sanctions, halt military and financial aid, and take concrete measures to stop the attacks and end the starvation. "Despite the change in rhetoric, we’re still in the phase of inaction. Politicians and corporations have no excuse; they’re really shameful," he said.

With the US repeatedly vetoing ceasefire resolutions at the UN Security Council, Fakhri argues it is now up to the UN General Assembly to act. "Why else do we have peacekeepers if not to end genocide and prevent starvation? Ordinary people are trying to break an illegal blockade to deliver aid, to implement international law that their governments are failing to uphold."

As millions around the world continue to mobilize in support of Gaza, Fakhri emphasized that public pressure may be the only force capable of stopping what he describes as "a genocide in real time."