Five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said, taking the number of deaths from such causes to 217, including 100 children.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said a further 23 people had been killed so far in the war by airdrops of aid which countries have resorted to due to the difficulties of getting aid in by road.
In the latest case, a parachuted aid box killed a 14-year-old boy awaiting food with other desperate Palestinians at a tent encampment in central Gaza, according to medics and video verified by Reuters.
The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.
Israel’s offensive since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.
