Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza Amid Ongoing Conflict

At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes in Gaza on Monday, including 10 individuals seeking aid, according to Hamas-run health authorities. Additionally, five people reportedly died from starvation amid a severe humanitarian crisis. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not provided immediate comments on these incidents.

The fatalities among aid seekers occurred in two separate incidents near facilities operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the central and southern regions of the Strip. Local medics reported that a nurse at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah died after being struck by an airdropped aid package.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the cabinet is set to decide this week on whether to expand the IDF's ground operations in Gaza or to restrain military action to allow more time for potential ceasefire and hostage release negotiations with Hamas. Netanyahu emphasized the war's objectives as "the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel."

The IDF recently withdrew some troops from Gaza. On Sunday, four IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in a car crash during operational activity near the Gaza border. Additionally, over a dozen former senior security officials released a joint video calling for an end to the war, arguing that Israel is incurring losses and that the prolonged fighting serves political interests.

Netanyahu stated on Sunday that Hamas is uninterested in a deal, creating an incentive to "destroy" the group. Negotiations reached an impasse in late July, but pressure to free hostages has intensified following the release of videos showing captives in emaciated conditions. Hamas is holding 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to be alive.

On Sunday, Netanyahu's office reported that he spoke with Julien Lerisson, the regional coordinator of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), requesting involvement in providing food and immediate medical treatment to the hostages. The ICRC expressed being "appalled by the harrowing videos" and reiterated its call for access to the hostages.

Hamas responded by stating it would allow the ICRC access to the hostages if "humanitarian corridors" for food and aid were opened "across all areas of the Gaza Strip." The Red Cross has not provided assistance to the hostages since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, apart from facilitating transfers during two truce periods.

Humanitarian groups continue to raise alarms over widespread starvation in Gaza and increasing reports of deaths due to malnutrition. The United Nations reports that more than 1,300 people have been killed while attempting to obtain aid supplies since the GHF began operations in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces near GHF sites. The IDF has acknowledged firing warning shots at crowds approaching soldiers but called the UN tallies exaggerated, without providing alternate numbers.

The GHF began operations in May after a nearly three-month aid blockade imposed by Israel. The group aims to circumvent Hamas in aid distribution, amid Israeli allegations that Hamas hijacks deliveries under the existing UN-led system. The UN and other aid groups have criticized the GHF, accusing it of violating humanitarian principles of neutrality and endangering aid seekers.

At Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital on Monday, mourners gathered to collect the bodies of loved ones killed while seeking aid. Some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets due to shortages of white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials. A mourner expressed, "We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end."

The Hamas-run health ministry reported that five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the past 24 hours, raising the toll to 180, including 93 children, since the war began. Israel has denied allegations of widespread starvation in Gaza, blaming the UN and Hamas for obstructing or diverting aid meant for civilians. In late July, the government implemented measures to alleviate hunger, including airdrops and 10-hour "humanitarian pauses" in military operations in three population centers.

On Monday, Australia announced an additional $20 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza, following domestic pressure and mass pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney. The new package will fund food deliveries, medical supplies for field hospitals, and other critical support, focusing on women and children. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated, "The suffering and starvation of civilians must end," adding that "Australia will continue to work with the international community to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages and a two-state solution."

Germany's interior ministry is reviewing whether it can bring children from Gaza to Germany for treatment. The cities of Hanover and Düsseldorf have expressed willingness to accept children from Gaza and Israel who are particularly vulnerable or traumatized.

COGAT, the Israeli agency coordinating activity in the West Bank and Gaza, reported that 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid on 1,200 trucks entered Gaza over the past week, with 1,200 trucks "successfully collected by the UN and international organizations." However, it noted that "hundreds of trucks remain inside Gaza, waiting to be picked up and distributed by the UN and international organizations."

On Monday, aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany, Belgium, and Canada airdropped 120 pallets of humanitarian aid in northern and southern Gaza. Each pallet contains around one ton of food. The IDF stated that the airdrops were carried out "in accordance with the directives from the political leadership and as part of the cooperation between Israel" and the involved countries. "The IDF will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza," it added.

Since July 26, a total of 675 humanitarian aid packages have been airdropped in Gaza by nine countries, including Israel. The IDF noted that the packages it airdropped were supplied by international aid groups, not by Israel. UN agencies have stated that airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must allow far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it. Palestinian and UN officials indicate that Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet humanitarian requirements, the number Israel allowed before the war.

The war began with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reports that more than 60,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel states it has killed approximately 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught. Israel asserts it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques. Israel's toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border stands at 459, including two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.