GAZA, PALESTINE - MAY 4, 2025: As Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip continues unabated, the besieged enclave now faces an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe due to a total blockade on essential goods and aid. Since March 2, Israeli authorities have kept Gaza’s border crossings tightly sealed, halting the entry of vital food, fuel, and medical supplies. The complete blockade has worsened an already dire situation in the territory devastated by months of war and displacement. Multiple humanitarian organizations have issued urgent warnings of imminent famine, particularly in northern areas of the Strip. In northern Gaza, where just one location is still distributing hot meals, residents walk for hours across rubble-strewn terrain in hopes of receiving food. In the Jabalia refugee camp, Palestinians, including large numbers of children, waited in long lines to receive meals distributed by aid agencies. Overwhelming demand and scarce supplies led to chaotic scenes, as desperate crowds surged forward and people were crushed together in the scramble for food. The Government Media Office in Gaza reported Saturday that at least 57 Palestinians, mostly children, elderly people, and chronically ill patients, have died from starvation since October 7, 2023. Earlier that day, a medical source told Anadolu that a child had died from malnutrition and dehydration at Al-Rantisi Children's Hospital in Gaza City. The media office condemned Israel's use of food as a weapon of war, accusing it of imposing a suffocating siege on more than 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza by closing all border crossings for the 64th consecutive day. Palestinian and UN officials have repeatedly warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis as Israel has kept Gaza's crossings closed since early March. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is “beyond imagination” as Israel continued to block supplies into the enclave, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday. “As the complete blocking of supplies essential for survival enters its ninth week, there must be a concerted international effort to stop this humanitarian catastrophe from reaching a new unseen level,” it added in a statement. The refugee agency renewed its call for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory. The humanitarian crisis deepened in Gaza after Israel unilaterally abandoned a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas last month. On Friday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that with every additional day, Israel’s siege on Gaza “will silently kill more children and women in addition to those killed by bombardments.” On Thursday, the director of Gaza’s government media office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, told Anadolu that the enclave had entered “an advanced stage of famine” due to the continued closure of border crossings since March 2 and Israel’s renewed military onslaught. More than 52,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in ongoing Israeli genocide since October 2023, most of them women and children. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.