The Gaza Health Ministry said eight people, including three children, died of starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, lifting the cumulative toll to 239 fatalities—106 of them children—since the war erupted in October 2023. Earlier this week the ministry had reported 235 deaths after successive daily increases. United Nations figures released a day earlier put the death count at 227, with 103 children among the victims. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned that hunger is claiming “at least 100 children” and the World Food Programme described current starvation levels in the enclave as the worst since the conflict began. In a joint communiqué on 12 August, the foreign ministers of 26 nations—including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and Japan—said Gaza’s humanitarian crisis had reached “unimaginable levels” and pressed Israel to remove all obstacles to food, water, medicine and fuel deliveries and to open every crossing for unrestricted aid. The diplomatic appeal followed an open letter from more than 100 aid organisations—among them Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and CARE—accusing Israel of “weaponising” humanitarian assistance. The groups said new Israeli registration rules have prevented them from moving a single truck of life-saving supplies into Gaza since March, leaving millions of dollars’ worth of goods stranded in depots. Israel rejects accusations that it is inducing famine. The Israel Defense Forces said some of the reported malnutrition deaths involved patients with pre-existing medical conditions and maintained that aid is allowed to enter subject to security screening. Humanitarian agencies counter that the volume permitted falls far short of Gaza’s needs, with 2.4 million residents—half of them children—now at risk of severe hunger.