Save the Children Executive Director Inger Ashing addressed the United Nations Security Council, warning of the deliberate starvation in Gaza that is now threatening the lives of at least 132,000 children under the age of five.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the number of children at risk of acute malnutrition has doubled since May 2025.
“Children in Gaza are systematically starving. Their bodies are literally being consumed by hunger and disease. Save the Children clinics are overwhelmed, but patients often do not have the strength to even cry,” Ashing said in a statement.
Humanitarian supplies that could save lives are located several kilometers away, but are blocked, while Israeli forces continue to attack hospitals and residential areas.
“Children in hospitals lie emaciated, literally decaying. Their tiny bodies are overcome by hunger and disease. The medical and food supplies they need are almost exhausted. Without them, malnourished children will die,” she added.
In humanitarian centers, children no longer draw wishes for school or friends, now they ask for food or simply want to die.
One child wrote: I would like to be in heaven with my mother, there is love, food and water,” it said.
Humanitarian workers warn that this is a deliberately caused famine, which the international community could have predicted. The stage of hunger, according to IPC standards, means an extreme situation in which mass malnutrition and death occur.
“Every decision maker in the world has a moral and legal responsibility to stop these crimes. The phase of hunger means that there are no more alarms, only suffering and death,” the organization says.
