'Walking corpses' haunt Gaza streets: UN says children dying of starvation, India urges emergency relief

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has hit a breaking point, with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reporting a heartbreaking surge in deaths due to hunger, most of them children. Describing the conditions on the ground, the UN agency likened the situation to people becoming “walking corpses,” as basic food, water, and medical supplies continue to be out of reach for most Gazans.

‘People Are Neither Dead Nor Alive’

Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini took to X to share the grim reality, “People in Gaza are neither dead nor alive, they are walking corpses,” a colleague told me this morning.

According to Lazzarini, over 100 people have reportedly died of hunger, the vast majority of them children. The agency also warned that one in five children in Gaza City is now malnourished. Many are emaciated and dangerously weak, lacking access to the urgent care they need.


“When child malnutrition surges, coping mechanisms fail, access to food & care disappears, famine silently begins to unfold,” he wrote.

Aid Blocked While Supplies Sit Idle

Despite having the equivalent of 6,000 truckloads of food and medical aid ready in Jordan and Egypt, UNRWA says it cannot get the supplies into Gaza due to restrictions.

“Allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted & uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” Lazzarini urged.

India Calls for Immediate Ceasefire and Humanitarian Access

India has called for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted delivery of aid. Speaking at the United Nations, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish stressed that "intermittent pauses" in fighting are not enough.

“The people [of Gaza] grapple daily with acute shortages of food and fuel, inadequate medical services, and lack of access to education,” he said.

He highlighted that 95% of Gaza’s hospitals are either damaged or destroyed, while more than 6.5 lakh children have been without schooling for over 20 months.

Limited Aid and a Troubled Route

Israel stopped all goods from entering Gaza in March, before allowing limited aid deliveries in May through the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Aid agencies have criticised the foundation’s inefficiency and political oversight, calling for more neutral and widespread humanitarian access.

Inputs from TOI