A humanitarian organisation has warned that "thousands of people will die" in Gaza if nothing is done as humanitarians described horrific scenes of starving, bloodied children and fights over water, two months into Israel's full blockade on aid.
The Norwegian Refugee Council's humanitarian access manager in Gaza, Gavin Kelleher, issued the warning, as other aid agencies called for urgent international action with aid operations on the "verge of total collapse".
The United Nations and the Red Cross sounded the alarm at the dire situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, demanding international action.
"The humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse," the International Committee of the Red Cross warned in a statement.
"Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate."
Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.
It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on 2 March, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.
Since the start of the blockade, the United Nations has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.
The UN's World Food Programme said a week ago that it had sent out its "last remaining food stocks" to kitchens.
"Food stocks have now mainly run out," Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza City.
"Community kitchens have begun to shut down (and) more people are going hungry," she said, pointing to reports of children and other very vulnerable people who have died from malnutrition and ... from the lack of food".
"The blockade is deadly."
Water access was also "becoming impossible", she warned.
"In fact, as I speak to you, just downstairs from this building people are fighting for water. There's a water truck that has just arrived, and people are killing each other over water," she said.
The situation is so bad, she said that a friend had described to her a few days ago seeing "people burning ... because of the explosions and there was no water to save them".
At the same time, Ms Cherevko said that "hospitals report running out of blood units as mass casualties continue to arrive".
"Gaza lies in ruins, Rubble fills the streets... Many nights, blood-curdling screams of the injured pierce the skies following the deafening sound of another explosion."
She also decried the mass displacement, with nearly the entire Gaza population being forced to shift multiple times prior to the brief ceasefire.
Since the resumption of hostilities, she said "over 420,000 people have been once again forced to flee, many with only the clothes on their backs, shot at along the way, arriving in overcrowded shelters, as tents and other facilities where people search safety, are being bombed".
Pascal Hundt, the ICRC's deputy head of operations, also cautioned that "civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance".
The World Health Organization's emergencies director, Mike Ryan, said the situation was an "abomination".
"We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza," he told reporters yesterday.
Ms Cherevko slammed decision makers who "have watched in silence the endless scenes of bloodied children, of severed limbs, of grieving parents move swiftly across their screens, month, after month, after month".
"How much more blood must be spilled before enough become enough?"
Activists say Israeli drones hit aid boat heading to Gaza
Separately, a ship with humanitarian aid and activists for Gaza was struck by drones while in international waters off Malta early this morning, its organisers said, and the Maltese government said after a rescue operation that everyone on board was safe.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international non-governmental group, published video footage showing a fire on one of its ships, named the Conscience, and accused Israel of being involved.
"Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters," it said.
The Maltese government said maritime authorities had received a mayday call from a vessel reporting a fire shortly after midnight local time.
The vessel was outside territorial waters and had 12 crew members and four civilians on board, the government said.
It said a nearby tug headed to the scene and launched firefighting operations and a Maltese patrol vessel was dispatched. After several hours, the vessel and its crew were secure, it said, adding that crew had refused to board the tug.
In an earlier social media post on the incident, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition had said the vessel was at risk of sinking with 30 international human rights activists on board.
The coalition is campaigning to end Israel's blockade of Gaza. It said it had been organising a non-violent action under a media blackout in order to avoid any potential sabotage.
BREAKING: At 00:23 Maltese time, a #FreedomFlotilla ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. The ship is currently located in international waters near #Malta. An #SOS distress signal was sent. pic.twitter.com/J6oEQafuOb
— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 2, 2025
"Volunteers from over 21 countries travelled to Malta to board the mission to Gaza, including prominent figures," it said in a fuller statement on its website.
"On the morning of their scheduled departure, the vessel was attacked. Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull. The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship."
It released video footage shot in the dark that showed lights in the sky in front of the ship and the sound of explosions. The footage also showed the vessel on fire.
A previous "freedom flotilla" launched from southern Turkey in 2010 ended in bloodshed when Israeli forces stormed the Mavi Marmara vessel, killing ten and wounding 28.
Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which sparked the Gaza war, resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday that at least 2,326 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes in March, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,418.
