TEHRAN — More Palestinians have died from starvation in Gaza as Israel’s blockade of the besieged territory plunges it into an increasingly dire malnutrition crisis.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that hospitals in Gaza have recorded over a dozen deaths, including those of children, due to starvation and malnutrition. This is in addition to dozens of Palestinians who were shot dead by the Israeli army across Gaza on Tuesday.

Malnutrition and starvation are particularly severe among children, a crisis highlighted by Save the Children’s humanitarian director.

Rachel Cummings told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza that there has been no adequate food supply in Gaza for a very long time. The markets are empty and the water sanitation situation is not adequate to meet the needs of two million people, “who are all on the brink of famine.”

Cummings said in Deir el-Balah she had seen “hungry people, children carrying empty bowls, looking for food, looking for water. It’s absolutely desperate here.

“We’re seeing an increased number of children in our clinics and our nutrition centers who are malnourished … We’re also seeing an increase in the number of pregnant women and breastfeeding women who are also malnourished,” she said, adding, “Everyone in Gaza is hungry now, and even in my team, I see visibly my team are thin, and also they cannot get food in the market.”

Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has said starvation in Gaza is a “man-made” famine.

“What we are seeing now in Gaza is the most horrific stage of Israel’s starvation campaign,” Fakhri told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said more than one million children in Gaza are going hungry as Israel has only allowed a trickle of food and humanitarian aid to enter the territory since March.

In a related development, the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including several Israeli allies, released a joint statement calling for the immediate end of the war in Gaza.

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law," the statement said.

France and the UK are among the signatories—both considered allies of Israel. 

Their signatures on the statement signal a growing awareness that Israel’s military strategy in Gaza has failed. It is also seen as an attempt to appease public opinion in these European countries, where citizens increasingly oppose Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

Israel has not only starved Palestinians in Gaza to death, but has also opened fire on those seeking food aid in the enclave. Approximately 100 Gazans were killed by Israeli forces over the weekend as they gathered near a convoy of food trucks sent by the United Nations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army to launch a war on Gaza in October 2023 following the Hamas attack. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 59,000 Gazans. But Israel has failed to achieve its stated goal of destroying Hamas.

Starving civilians to death—including children—killing people seeking food, and destroying much of Gaza’s infrastructure are the only outcomes Israel has achieved.