Window “closing fast” to prevent spread of Gaza famine, UN Relief Chief warns

08 September 2025

Under-Secretary-General Fletcher yesterday demanded urgent action to halt the spread of famine and suffering in Gaza.

In a statement, Fletcher warned that there is a narrow window – until the end of September – to prevent famine from expanding to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, adding that this window is closing fast.

Fletcher called for aid to be let in – unimpeded and at the scale humanitarians can deliver – and for civilians to be protected, for the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures to be implemented, for the hostages to be released, for arbitrarily detained Palestinians to be freed, and for a ceasefire.

Since the confirmation of famine in Gaza governorate, the Ministry of Health reports that more than 100 people – a quarter of them children – have died from starvation and malnutrition across the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, hostilities continued to kill and injure people over the weekend. In just the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 67 deaths and 320 injuries. This brings the total toll of people killed since end of the ceasefire in mid-March to almost 12,000, according to the health ministry.

Amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza city, the Israeli military has issued more orders over the past day for people to leave specific buildings or areas within Gaza city, warning of imminent attacks.

Meanwhile, in the past two days, at least one partner organization has been hit in Gaza city, killing several people, including at least one aid worker and one child.

Over 80 per cent of Gaza is either under displacement orders or within militarized areas.

With the Israeli military instructing people to move from parts of Gaza city southward, OCHA warns that people are in dire need of food, water and shelter items.

While humanitarians were able to support the entry of a limited number of tents in the past weeks, much more is needed to support hundreds of thousands of people in all parts of the Gaza Strip – north and south alike – as many are repeatedly displaced.

Meanwhile, in most areas, the Israeli authorities continue to require any movement of humanitarian personnel to be coordinated with them in advance. Yesterday, 11 out of 24 missions requiring coordination were facilitated, including the collection of fuel from Kerem Shalom crossing and the transfer of fuel supplies to the north. While three missions were denied, another four missions had to be canceled by the organizers.

Although the remaining six missions were impeded, humanitarians were nevertheless able to distribute water in the north and collect food cargo from Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has received more than 570 wheelchairs to distribute for hospitals and partners across the Strip. These include 260 wheelchairs for children. In a social media post yesterday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this will help cover urgent needs for hospital use in mass casualty management and rehabilitation.

Today, at least six Israelis were killed and many others injured in Jerusalem in a shooting attack. The two Palestinian perpetrators were also killed and subsequently, Israeli forces operated in and around the Ramallah governorate, where they came from.

OCHA says that such killings are prohibited and unacceptable.

Last Friday, OCHA recorded the killing of another Palestinian by Israeli forces in Nablus.

OCHA reiterates that civilians must be protected, and that any use of force by Israeli forces in the West Bank must follow internationally recognized law enforcement standards.

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Window “closing fast” to prevent spread of Gaza famine, UN Relief Chief warns

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