Israel’s Gaza Offensive Intensifies, Deepening Starvation Crisis

Israeli planes and tanks relentlessly bombarded eastern Gaza City overnight on August 12, 2025, killing at least 11 people, according to witnesses and medics, as the region grapples with a worsening humanitarian crisis. The strikes, targeting the Zeitoun suburb and central Gaza City, left seven dead in two homes and four in an apartment building. In southern Gaza, nine more were killed, including a couple and their child in Khan Younis and four in a tent encampment in Mawasi, medics reported. These attacks come as Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya heads to Cairo to revive a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan, following a stalled round of talks in Qatar in late July. Amid the violence, Gaza’s hunger crisis has escalated, with five more deaths from starvation and malnutrition, including two children, reported in the past 24 hours, pushing the total to 227 since theconflict began.

The war, ignited on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking 251 hostages, has devastated Gaza. Israel’s response has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, displaced nearly 2 million people, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel disputes the ministry’s malnutrition figures, but the United Nations and aid groups warn of a famine risk, with only 95 aid trucks entering Gaza on August 11—far below the 600 needed daily. Charity kitchens, the last lifeline for many, are shutting down as food supplies dwindle, and desperate crowds face deadly risks at aid distribution points, with 1,400 Palestinians killed seeking food since May, per the UN human rights office.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to launch a new offensive to seize Gaza City in October has sparked global alarm. Israel, which briefly controlled the city in 2023 before withdrawing, aims to dismantle Hamas, which has regrouped for guerrilla-style warfare. The Israeli military claims it killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels in northern Gaza over the past month, but critics, including Israel’s own military chief, warn the offensive could endanger the 50 remaining hostages—fewer than half believed alive—and risk soldiers’ lives in a “death trap.” International condemnation is mounting, with the UN, European nations, and China rejecting Israel’s plan to displace nearly 1 million Palestinians from Gaza City to southern “concentration zones.”

Also Read: Gaza Death Toll Exceeds 59,000 Amid Ongoing War, Health Ministry Reports

Ceasefire talks remain deadlocked. Hamas demands a full Israeli withdrawal and refuses to disarm without a Palestinian state, while Israel insists on Hamas’s eradication. Mediators Egypt and Qatar are pushing to restart negotiations, with some suggesting Israel’s offensive announcement is a tactic to pressure Hamas. Meanwhile, Gaza’s civilians bear the brunt, with hospitals running out of fuel, food, and medicine. A UNRWA official noted warehouses outside Gaza hold enough food for three months, blocked by Israel’s restrictions. Airdrops, recently allowed by Israel with Jordan and five other countries, have been criticized as inefficient and dangerous, with UNRWA’s head warning they could harm starving civilians.

The crisis has drawn sharp criticism within Israel and abroad. Protesters in Tel Aviv rallied on August 9, demanding a ceasefire to free hostages, while church leaders, after visiting Gaza’s shelled Catholic church, called for an end to the “morally unacceptable” suffering. Over 100 aid groups and Western nations, including Canada, France, and the UK, have urged Israel to lift its blockade, with Britain pausing trade talks and sanctioning West Bank settlers. As Gaza faces relentless bombardment and starvation, the world watches to see if diplomacy can halt the escalating tragedy.

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