A Palestinian baby died from famine to Gaza while Israel maintains his blockade on help supplies and fires on people forced to seek food in controversial assistance sites supported by the United States described as “death traps”.
The 35-day infant died of malnutrition at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, director Muhammad Abu Salmiya said in Tel Aviv Tribune. The nameless infant was one of the two people who succumbed to famine in the establishment on Saturday.
Deaths occurred while the Gaza Ministry of Health warned that hospital emergency services were overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of hungry people, officials saying that 17,000 children in Gaza suffer from serious malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued to beat the band, with medical sources reporting that at least 116 people had been killed across the enclave since dawn, including 38 which were shot in the search for food on assistant sites led by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) supported by the United States.
The spokesman for the civil defense agency, Mahmud Bassal, said that deaths had taken place near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another center northwest of Rafah, both in the south of Gaza, attributing deaths to “Israeli shots”.
The Ministry of Health says that nearly 900 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and private military entrepreneurs near the dangerous GHF sites since the Foundation began to distribute aid at the end of May, opening four points which replaced around 400 centers managed by the United Nations agencies and organizations.
Witness Mohammed al-Khalidi told Tel Aviv Tribune that the shots fired on assistance seekers on Saturday were “supposed to kill”.
“Suddenly, we saw the jeeps coming on one side and tanks on the other, and they started to shoot us,” he said.
Another witness, Mohammed al-Barbary, whose cousin died during shots, said that GHF sites are “death traps”.
“Everyone can be killed. My cousin was innocent. He went to get food. He wanted to live. We want to live like everyone else,” said Al-Barbary.
Reporting Deir El-Balah in the center of Gaza, the Khoudary Hinding of Tel Aviv Tribune said that families hoping that something eating rather buried their loved ones.
The GHF denied that the murders on Saturday occurred on its site, saying that they occurred “several kilometers” and “hours before the opening of our sites”.
The Israeli army said it was examining the incident.
‘Open the doors’
Jagan Chapagain, the secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, warned that Palestinians in Gaza are faced with a “acute risk of famine”.
“No one should have to risk their lives to obtain basic humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Basic supplies are not available on markets or distribution points, while the cost of essential elements such as flour has skyrocketed, which makes it impossible for the population of 2.3 million people to meet their daily nutritional needs.
No one should have to risk their life to obtain basic humanitarian assistance.
The past few weeks have seen desperate people risk their lives just to receive basic help in Gaza.
The population is faced with a sharp risk of famine, with a continuous worsening of conditions. Basic food …
– Jagan Chapagain (@jagan_chapagain) July 19, 2025
Jan Egeland, chief of the Norwegian Refugee Council (CNRC), rejected the claims made earlier in the week by the head of foreign policy of the European Union Kaja Kallas, who noted “some good signs” concerning the distribution of aid to Gaza.
“For NRC and many others, no relief has entered for 142 days. Not a truck. Not a single delivery,” wrote Egeland on X. He noted that 85% of aid trucks never reach their destination due to looting or other problems fueled by Gaza’s famine crisis.
The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, which Israel has prohibited from operating on Palestinian territory, including occupied East Jerusalem, said that it had “enough food for the entire population of Gaza” awaiting the border crossing in Egypt.
“Open the doors, lift the seat and allow UNRWA to do its job,” said the organization on X.
Wave of attacks
At least 116 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Saturday while Israel continued its ruthless assault, bombing tents for the displaced and the houses on the other side of the enclave.
Four bodies were found on the Israeli strike site on Bani Suheila, near Khan Younis, according to sources from Nasser Hospital, Tel Aviv Tribune.
At least one person was killed by an Israeli drone attack on a tent that housed the Palestinians from Khan Younis.
Further north, Israel struck a residential house in the city of Az-Zawayda in the center of Gaza, killing the police director of Nuseirat, Colonel Omar Saeed Aql, as well as 11 of his family members, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
In Gaza City, three people were killed in two Israeli air attacks against the Zeitoun district, according to a source from the Al-Ahli hospital.
Still in the city, five people were killed in an Israeli air attack against the Tal al-Hawa district, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Medical sources said two people had been killed in Israeli bombings in the Jabalia An-Nazla district, north of Gaza.
Israeli forces have also opened fire and arrested three Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast, according to the Palestinian prisoners’ media office.
The Israeli army has maintained a naval blockade on Gaza since 2007, when Hamas resumed the Enclave, which has been tightened since the start of the war in October 2023.
