Israeli occupation forces intensified attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, leaving dozens dead, including children, as UN agencies warned of a worsening humanitarian disaster marked by rising malnutrition.

Medical sources reported that two siblings, Mahmoud Suhail al-Dabba, 16, and his sister Hanan, 25, died on Friday after prolonged suffering from disability and malnutrition under the ongoing blockade on Gaza.

At Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the bodies of six people arrived following an Israeli strike on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in the Zikim area, northwest of the blockaded strip.

In the al-Zaytoun neighborhood of southern Gaza City, Israeli forces destroyed several homes, while in central Gaza, six people, including four children, were killed when occupation forces bombed a house in the al-Bureij refugee camp. Another strike near Abu Helou school in the camp left one person dead and several injured.

Aid queues targeted

According to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, nine people were killed, among them a woman and six children, and 14 others were wounded when Israeli forces shelled crowds gathered at a food distribution point south of Wadi Gaza.

Israeli artillery also struck northern al-Bureij and northern Nuseirat camps.

In southern Gaza, three people were killed and others were injured after an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in Mawasi al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis. The occupation also demolished several residential buildings in the city and launched air raids in the surrounding areas.

Further south, Nasser Medical Complex in Rafah confirmed that two people were killed and others were injured by Israeli fire near aid centers north of the city.

One in five children in Gaza malnourished

Alongside the heavy bombardment, humanitarian agencies sounded the alarm over the deepening food crisis. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that malnutrition in Gaza City has reached 21.5%, meaning about one in five young children is now malnourished.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said nearly 13,000 children across Gaza were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment in July 2025 alone.

Children dying of starvation

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that 11 people, including one child, died in 24 hours as a result of famine and severe malnutrition.

With the latest fatalities, the total number of deaths attributed to hunger and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to 251, among them 108 children, according to health officials.

The worsening food crisis comes as aid agencies continue to warn of catastrophic shortages caused by the ongoing Israeli blockade and bombardment of the enclave.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said the humanitarian situation has reached extremes, with civilians forced to decide between drinking water and using it to wash and maintain hygiene. An NRC spokesperson told The Guardian that the dire shortage of safe water is compounding the risks of disease and further weakening a population already devastated by famine.

Engineered starvation

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said earlier on Friday that the number of "breadwinner martyrs" killed while trying to secure aid has now reached 1,898, with 14,113 others injured as a result of the occupation targeting those waiting for assistance.

The Government Media Office in Gaza added that more than 780 members of aid security teams have been killed to prevent relief from reaching designated warehouses, facilitating the theft of supplies.

It has repeatedly stated that the small amount of aid allowed in, already far below the minimum needs, is often looted amid security chaos deliberately manufactured by the occupation as part of a policy of engineering hunger and disorder.

Read more: Gaza tribes condemn Israeli aid looting amid starvation campaign

The UN rights office also revealed that between May 27 and August 13, at least 1,760 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid, 994 near GHF sites and 766 along supply convoy routes, with most of the killings attributed to Israeli forces.

While acknowledging the presence of other armed elements in some areas, it said it had no evidence linking them to these killings, and called for urgent, independent investigations and accountability for those responsible.