17 people killed in Gaza as WFP says it has run out of food

The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday it had exhausted its food supplies in war-ravaged Gaza, where Israel has blocked all aid for over seven weeks and continues its brutal offensive across the territory, including fresh attacks on Gaza City on Saturday which killed 17 people. 

The WFP said in a statement that it had delivered the last of its supplies to charity kitchens it supports across Gaza, warning that these kitchens are expected to run out of food within days.  

The Israeli siege, imposed on 2 March, cut off the entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other essential supplies into Gaza, and was followed later that month by the resumption of Israeli air and ground attacks, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

The UN programme warned that it "has depleted all its food stocks for families in Gaza," while stressing that it had delivered its final remaining food stocks to hot meal kitchens in the war-battered territory. 

"These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days," it added. 

The agency said that no humanitarian or commercial supplies had entered Gaza for over seven weeks, with all major border crossings remaining closed - marking the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever experienced. 

The World Food Programme warned that if the blockade on aid was not lifted, it could be forced to halt its critical assistance. 

On 31 March, all 25 bakeries supported by the WFP closed after supplies of wheat flour and cooking fuel were exhausted, while parcels providing families with two weeks’ worth of food rations had also been depleted. 

Gaza’s media office stated on Friday that famine is no longer a looming threat but has become a reality. "Thousands of Palestinian families are now facing starvation, unable to provide even a single meal for their children," it said in a statement. 

It added that 52 people have died due to hunger and malnutrition- including 50 children- while more than one million children are experiencing hunger every day. 

Prominent human rights groups have consistently described the Israeli siege as a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime since its implementation, while the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has accused Israel of inflicting "man-made" and "politically motivated starvation" on Gaza. 

"Children are starving," Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X. 

"A manmade and politically motivate starvation." 

Following the WFP’s statement, the chief of The World Health Organization (WHO) called for the end of the months-long Israeli blockade on the enclave. 

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in a post on X that "the situation is the same with medical supplies. They are running out."  

He further stressed that "this aid blockade must end. Lives depend on it." 

Trump says 'be good to Gaza'

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also called on Israel to allow the UN agency to operate in Gaza, stressing that food must not be used as a "political tool," just hours after the WFP’s statement was released. 

"The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government's blockade- food cannot be used as a political tool," Carney said on X. 

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "we’ve got to be good to Gaza," and he pressed the Israeli leader to allow greater access for food and medicine into the Strip.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while travelling to attend Pope Francis’s funeral, Trump was asked whether humanitarian concerns for Gaza were raised during his phone call with Netanyahu earlier in the week.

"Gaza came up and I said, 'We’ve got to be good to Gaza,'" Trump replied.

He added: "Those people are suffering. We’ve got to be good to Gaza. We’re going to take care of them."

"There’s a very big need for food and medicine. We’re taking care of it," Trump said, claiming that Netanyahu responded "well" to his appeal.

Trump’s remarks mark his first public comments regarding the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, coming after Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday called for an end to the "intolerable" blockade, warning of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death."

17 killed in Israeli strikes 

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes on Saturday killed at least 17 people across the territory, with more individuals still trapped beneath the rubble following a strike on a family home. 

“Israeli air strikes in several areas killed 17 people since dawn,” civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir told AFP news agency. 

According to Mughayyir, a strike targeting the Al-Khour family home in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood resulted in the deaths of 10 people, while witnesses said that around 20 more remained trapped under the debris. 

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza, earlier stated that roughly 30 individuals were missing beneath the rubble. 

Umm Walid al-Khour, who survived the strike, told AFP: "Everyone was sleeping with their children when the strike hit. The house collapsed on top of us. Those who survived cried for help but nobody came... Most of the deceased were children." 

Bassal explained that a shortage of rescue equipment was preventing emergency crews from reaching over 30 people believed to be buried under the destroyed home. 

"Our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery," he told AFP. 

The civil defence agency added that Israeli forces had destroyed 40 engineering vehicles on Wednesday - equipment used to clear heavy debris during search and rescue efforts and to recover bodies from Gaza’s numerous devastated buildings. 

Elsewhere in Gaza City, three individuals were killed when Israeli shelling struck a house in the Al-Shati refugee camp, Mughayyir said. 

Additional strikes across the Gaza Strip killed a further four people.  

Since the war on Gaza began 18 months ago, at least 51,439 Palestinians have been confirmed killed and 117,416 wounded, according to official figures. 

Thousands of uncounted victims are believed to be missing under the rubble and presumed dead.