The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, United Nations officials warned on Monday, describing overflowing hospitals, critically malnourished children, and desperate civilians risking their lives to secure food for their families.

In a situation update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that civilians have repeatedly been killed while attempting to collect food and water. Health facilities are operating far beyond capacity, with shortages of fuel, medicine, and essential supplies severely compromising care.

Agencies have called for urgent action to prevent further loss of life and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to the besieged enclave. UNICEF has warned that children are “dying before reaching hospitals,” a grim indicator of the collapse of critical services.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that July saw nearly 12,000 children under five years old diagnosed with acute malnutrition—the highest monthly figure on record. Since late May, more than 1,600 people have been killed and nearly 12,000 injured while trying to access food. The scale of need has overwhelmed humanitarian agencies, who stress that current aid deliveries fall far short of the 500-600 daily trucks required to stabilize the situation.

The deepening emergency has largely resulted from growing restrictions on humanitarian access and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure. UN agencies have condemned the use of starvation as a weapon of war, citing reports that one-in-five children is malnourished and that over 100 starvation-related deaths had occurred by late July. Senior UN officials told the UN Security Council that the situation was “unspeakable,” as civilians face bombardment, hunger, and a collapsed health system.

Legal experts and human rights monitors have stressed that the right to food, water, health, and life is protected under international humanitarian and human rights law. Continued restrictions on aid and attacks on civilian infrastructure, they warn, may constitute grave breaches of these obligations. As emphasized in recent UN briefings, the crisis not only threatens Palestinians’ immediate survival but risks entrenching long-term harm, especially for children whose physical and cognitive development has been irreversibly damaged.

The UN has reiterated its call for a sustained ceasefire, the removal of access barriers, and the protection of all civilians, warning that, without decisive action, Gaza’s collapse will accelerate beyond recovery.