Save the Children warns Gaza children are dying slowly from famine

The head of Save the Children, Inger Ashing, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that children in Gaza are dying slowly from famine, with some too weak to even cry.

Addressing the council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ashing said famine is not a “dry technical term.” She described how starving children first burn fat to survive, then consume muscle and vital organs, wasting away over weeks.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” she said.

Aiding organisations have repeatedly warned that famine was imminent as Israel blocked food and other essentials from entering Gaza. Ashing urged the international community to act: “Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity.”

The UN officially declared famine in Gaza last Friday, attributing it to systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war. A UN-backed hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), reported that 500,000 people are already affected and projected famine could engulf two-thirds of Gaza by the end of September.

Following the Security Council meeting, 14 members – all except the United States – issued a joint statement expressing “profound alarm and distress,” calling on Israel to stop using starvation as a weapon.

“The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” the statement said.