Israeli aid blockade hits three-month mark as children starve in Gaza
2 June 2025The Israeli aid blockade has directly led to children dying of starvation and prevents people from accessing vital healthcare. An immediate end to the blockade is needed now to save lives.
Today (Monday 2 June) marks three months since the Israeli imposed aid blockade into Gaza, a deadly tactic which denies entry of life saving food, medicine and fuel. This blockade has directly led to children dying of starvation and lack of access to vital healthcare and Plan International warns that an immediate end to the blockade is needed now to save lives.
A recent IPC report finds the entire population of Gaza is facing high levels of acute food insecurity and that one in five people are facing starvation. The report projects 470,000 people will experience catastrophic food insecurity.
Plan International partner Juzoor, a health organisation who are operating inside Gaza, have reported that the aid blockade has resulted in a severe shortage of essential medical supplies which means they are only able to treat people who are seriously injured and require surgery with basic first aid kits.
Not one functioning hospital
The health system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse – there is not one fully functioning hospital in Gaza and Juzoor have seen their medical facilities targeted by Israeli bombs which have killed 13 members of their team. Whilst health professionals continue to work in the most dangerous of conditions, they have also endured repeated displacement, food insecurity, and lack of clean water and sanitation — some have not had access to a proper shower in weeks.
“For 12 weeks essential aid has been blocked by the Israeli government – this has been a death sentence for some of the most vulnerable people inside Gaza. This is engineering an entirely manmade famine,” says Lindsey Hutchison, Head of Global Humanitarian Policy, Advocacy and Diplomacy Unit at Plan International.
“Military control of aid is a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law and the new Israeli scheme for getting in essential supplies to Gaza is dangerous – food and medicine should not be bargaining tools.
“The scheme is not a humanitarian operation—it is a system of control. We saw chaos last week – at least 47 people are reported to have been hurt as they were fired upon trying to collect food to feed their starving children.
“The few trucks that have been allowed through have been described by the UN as a ‘drop in the ocean’ as to what is needed in Gaza. This token gesture creates the appearance of resumed humanitarian access – let us be clear – the aid blockade remains firmly in place and families are watching their children starve in front of them whilst we have humanitarian relief languishing in trucks across the border. At Plan International, we are driven by our humanitarian principles – they are non-negotiable.”
Increased risk of disease
The compounding effects of the conflict are also leading to a risk of disease. Sewage treatment facilities have been destroyed, and people are living with virtually no sanitation. Birthing kits and menstrual items are stuck at the borders whilst women and young girls are at great risk of infection.
According to one woman living in Gaza, “We were forced to cut our clothes and use them instead of sanitary pads, until we no longer had clothes.”
“We replaced the diapers for our children with rags and nylon which caused them to suffer from skin infections and fungi that ate away at our children’s bodies with many infections”, she added.
The humanitarian snapshot from the CeasefireNow coalition found that 93% of the non-government organisations they spoke to reported having exhausted or nearly exhausted their stocks. This includes food parcels, flour for bakeries, fuel, dignity and hygiene kits, medical supplies, nutrition supplements, bedding, mattresses, tents, shelter items, clothes and water treatment materials.
Movement restrictions
More than two thirds of the organisations also reported increased movement restrictions and that they are unable to reach northern Gaza, Khan Younis, and Rafah – cutting off people from humanitarian support.
Last week over 161,000 people in Gaza were forced to move again, with no safe place to go. 81% of Gaza is now within Israeli-militarised zones, or placed under forced displacement orders and arable and productive land lies within these no-go zones which further limits the opportunity for people in Gaza to grow or gather crops.
Plan International continues to demand that Israel lifts the blockade on Gaza immediately and allow for unfettered humanitarian access to the entire population in need – and to stop the killing of Palestinian children and all civilians. We call for constructive engagement by all parties leading to a permanent ceasefire now.
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