Gaza, 30 April 2025 — Since 2 March 2025, Israel has enforced a complete closure of all crossings into Gaza, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, including food, water, fuel, and medical supplies. This blockade is part of a deliberate and systematic strategy to starve Gaza’s population. In tandem, Israel has targeted essential structures meant to sustain life, including food warehouses, farmlands, fishing boats, and, most alarmingly, community soup kitchens that serve thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and impoverished families.

Israeli attacks on soup kitchens have intensified in recent weeks. On 26 March 2025, a missile struck outside a kitchen supervised by Khaled Yousef Abu Zer, 46, causing widespread destruction and resulting in 26 casualties, including humanitarian workers and those waiting for food. This kitchen had been serving 350-400 families daily. It was funded by international organizations, including the World Central Kitchen (WCK), which had previously shared with Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates and personnel information of 13 humanitarian workers working at the kitchen. Abu Zer recounted:

“At around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 26 March 2025, while I was supervising work inside the soup kitchen, which consists of two adjoining shops where food is prepared, I heard a powerful explosion. Dust filled the air, and the smell of gunpowder was everywhere. I rushed outside and saw many people lying on the ground, injured or lifeless. The meals we had prepared were destroyed. My colleague, Jalal Abdullah Harb, 45, was lying motionless at the entrance. I felt pain in my back and later realized I had been wounded by shrapnel. I was taken to Al-Awda Hospital for treatment.”

Israel’s targeting of soup kitchens and aid distribution centers reflects a clear and systematic pattern of behaviour aimed at starving Gaza’s two million population. Since the beginning of the ongoing genocide, Israeli forces have attacked at least 28 soup kitchens and 37 aid distribution centers. The destruction of these sites is not accidental—it is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at dismantling Gaza’s remaining support systems and creating conditions of life intended to bring about the physical destruction of its population.

Raed Khamis Al-Taweel, 45, supervises another soup kitchen in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp. His kitchen receives food supplies from charitable organizations and international institutions, particularly WCK and the World Food Programme (WFP). In his testimony to Al Mezan, he stated:

“We were completely unprepared for the increasing number of people requesting food after the Israeli forces tightened the blockade on 2 March 2025. With each passing day, our food stock continues to decrease. We are now left with only limited quantities of legumes such as lentils, rice, pasta, beans, and peas. Food prices in the market, if anything is available, are extremely high.

We rely on dry tree branches as fuel, cooking meals over an open flame, due to the depletion of cooking gas. We cook around 30 pots a day, which are distributed to approximately 2,100 families. Each person who brings a container receives two large ladles of food.

These days, people start arriving early. They come from all social classes and age groups—some are poor, some are public employees, and others used to be well-off before the war. Now they come hesitantly, ashamed, just to get a meal.

They line up outside the kitchen, showing clear signs of hunger, exhaustion, weakness, and extreme irritability. The biggest and most dangerous challenge we now face is the complete depletion of food supplies. Within a few days, we will be forced to shut the kitchen down.”

Markets have run out of the most basic food items. What remains is priced beyond the reach of the vast majority of Gaza’s residents. A 25-kg bag of flour, once sold for $5, now costs $140. Rice has risen from $1 to $10 per kilo, and cooking oil from $1.50 to $7 per liter. Tomatoes and onions are sold at $15 and $8 per kilo, respectively. Meat, eggs, and many vegetables have disappeared completely from the markets. With no income and no aid, most families now rely exclusively on soup kitchens for survival.

The fishing industry, once a vital source of food, is also under siege. Fishermen in Gaza face daily threats from the Israeli navy, further diminishing available food. A fisherman from Deir al-Balah shared the following testimony:

"I carry my net in my hands and walk about 15 metres into the shallow waters, accompanied by a few other fishermen. Sometimes I manage to catch small amounts of fish, which my family and I rely on, especially now when food is scarce and what little is available is outrageously expensive. But the Israeli navy shoots at us every day. Many times we're unable to fish, even though we stay close to the shore. I've witnessed my colleagues being killed and injured. I'm now afraid to continue fishing, but at the same time, I fear hunger. I don't know what to do."

A father described the toll of malnutrition on his 10-year-old son:

“My 10-year-old son became pale, unable to move, and his temperature rose at night. I thought it was a cold, but he remained in this condition for three days. I took him to Al-Shifa Hospital, where they told me he was suffering from malnutrition. They advised me to provide him with as varied meals as possible. For about a month now, we have been relying on what is provided by the charity kitchens, which only offer rice or lentils. I have no income to buy him the proper food he needs, and even when money is available, food is either unavailable or outrageously priced. I borrowed some money from a relative and bought him 2 kilograms of vegetables for 130 shekels. We gave them to him alone, and every day, we feed him a plate of vegetables in an attempt to nourish him. I'm scared for him and for my other three children.”

On 25 April 2025, the WFP announced that it had completely run out of food stocks in Gaza. The agency confirmed it had delivered its final supplies to hot-meal kitchens, which had served as a critical lifeline.

As a consequence, the health emergency is also worsening rapidly in Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Gaza’s malnutrition crisis at Phase 5—the most severe level. On 12 April 2025, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process stated that over 60,000 children aged 5 and under in Gaza are facing malnutrition. Furthermore, at least 3,600 children are currently undergoing treatment for malnutrition, reflecting an 80% increase in just one month, according to UN OCHA.

Despite over 116,000 metric tons of aid—enough to sustain one million people for four months—stuck at crossing points, Israel continues to prevent their entry into Gaza. Meanwhile, all 25 bakeries supported by the WFP have shut down due to a lack of flour and fuel. In this context, Al Mezan’s Director, Issam Younis, stated:

"The humanitarian situation has become indescribably catastrophic. The deliberate denial of food and water now affects all segments of society, particularly children, nursing mothers, pregnant women, the sick, and the elderly. Starvation and dehydration are being weaponized as tools of negotiation amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This is not merely a humanitarian catastrophe, it's a deliberate death sentence for civilians. In such a context, neutrality amounts to complicity. Time is now measured by the number of children's bodies, by a single dose of medicine, a loaf of bread, or a sip of water. The international community bears both a legal and moral obligation to urgently end this genocide and to activate mechanisms of accountability and justice."

He further added:

"Israeli forces continue to use starvation and thirst as weapons in the ongoing genocide against Gaza, a campaign that receives support at the political, security, and military levels within Israel. The crossings into Gaza remain completely closed, and humanitarian aid has been denied for the second consecutive month. The use of starvation and deprivation of water constitutes a war crime, and those responsible—both the decision-makers and those carrying out the orders—must be held accountable."

Israel is not only blocking the entry of food supplies but also medical aid, further deepening the hunger crisis by denying access to essential treatments for malnutrition, such as rehydration solutions, vitamins, and therapeutic food. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, children in Gaza are in the most critical stages of malnutrition. Their conditions are increasingly difficult to manage due to the severe shortage of medications and infant formula. The absence of proper nutrition and medical care for pregnant women also poses life-threatening risks to newborns, especially premature babies. Moreover, around 602,000 children are at risk of contracting polio, as Israel blocks the entry of vaccines, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

In parallel, Israel’s continued attacks on critical infrastructure have devastated access to clean water in Gaza. These attacks have included bombing water facilities, disabling Gaza’s largest desalination plants by cutting off electricity, and shutting down pipelines supplying water from Israel. As a result, access to clean drinking water is nearly nonexistent, leaving civilians exposed to thirst and disease. Such actions are deliberate efforts to deepen civilian suffering and are part of the same systematic policy that targets food and healthcare.

Al Mezan warns that hunger in Gaza has reached catastrophic and unprecedented levels. On 11 April 2025, the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) also confirmed that Gaza “has entered an advanced stage of famine”. The situation is a direct result of Israel’s illegal blockade and deliberate targeting of humanitarian infrastructure—clear violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Al Mezan expresses its gravest condemnation of Israel’s starvation policy, its deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers and infrastructure, and its ongoing policy of collective punishment. Therefore, Al Mezan:

-       Calls on the international community to take immediate and decisive action to halt the genocide. The blockade must be lifted, and unrestricted access to food, water, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid must be ensured.

-       Urges the international community to intensify relief efforts, protect humanitarian workers and service facilities, and enable the delivery of aid without risk.

-       Demands an end to the impunity Israel enjoys through the activation of accountability mechanisms and international legal action.