By Ikram Kouachi
Five more Palestinians died from malnutrition caused by a choking Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, a health official said Friday.
Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, said through the US social media company X that the new fatalities brought the death toll since October 2023 to 322, including 121 children.
Famine has been confirmed in the Gaza Governorate of the strip, and is projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September, according to the global hunger monitor Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
Since IPC declared famine in Gaza, 44 people, including six children, have starved to death, noted Bursh.
After 22 months of relentless conflict, the IPC said, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation, destitution, and death, while another 1.07 million people -- over half the population -- are facing emergency levels of acute food insecurity.
Israel has killed around 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.