UN warns of mass famine as Gaza reels from deadly strikes, aid delays, and farm destruction

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has deepened after another weekend of Israeli bombardment left at least 50 people dead and key civilian shelters ablaze. Aid officials warned on Monday that the trickle of supplies allowed into the enclave is nowhere near enough to prevent mass famine.

Among the dead was a group of civilians sheltering inside Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City, where an airstrike ignited a fire. Footage captured the charred remains of a classroom as a dazed child stumbled through smoke and rubble. Elsewhere in the city, four people perished in another strike on a family home.

UN officials said the situation is spiralling out of control. James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, delivered a stark assessment: “For 11 weeks, Gaza received no food or medicine—only bombs. Now, one week into resumed aid, the scale is painfully inadequate. It looks more like cynical optics than a real attempt to end this children’s hunger crisis.”

According to UN food security experts, over 500,000 Gazans—one in five—now face starvation. Meanwhile, only 388 aid trucks have entered Gaza over the past week, far short of the 500 to 600 needed daily to meet basic needs. Prior to 7 October 2023, that volume was routine.

Sarah Poole, the UN’s acting Humanitarian Coordinator in Gaza, visited displacement shelters where many families have been forced to relocate over a dozen times. “Needs are absolutely critical,” she said. “Living conditions are deteriorating rapidly. We’re doing everything we can, but we lack vital supplies—food, water, healthcare. This suffering must end.”

The UN continues to call for a full ceasefire, immediate aid access, and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

UNRWA, the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, reported on Monday that its shelters are overwhelmed, with many families now living in unfinished or bomb-damaged buildings. “Hundreds share a single toilet,” an update read. “Some, including children and pregnant women, are sleeping outside.”

The violence and blockade have devastated Gaza’s food production. Satellite imagery analysed by UNOSAT and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization shows that more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s farmland has been damaged. Of the 15,053 hectares of cropland that existed before the war, only 688 remain cultivable—just 4.6 per cent. Farmers cannot access the rest due to damage or danger.

The situation is most dire in Rafah and the northern governorates, where nearly all agricultural land is either destroyed or out of reach.

On Monday, a new flashpoint erupted in occupied East Jerusalem. Dozens of Israeli settlers—joined by a member of the Knesset—stormed the UNRWA compound in Sheikh Jarrah, an area long at the heart of tensions. The compound has faced arson attacks in the past and was vacated by UNRWA staff in January after an Israeli law banned its operations in the city.

Despite the withdrawal, the compound remains a protected UN site under international law. Monday’s incident occurred on Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday marking the 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

As bombardments continue and aid remains grossly insufficient, the UN’s message was clear: without immediate action, Gaza faces an irreversible humanitarian disaster.