Gaza / PNN /

The Gaza Health Ministry warned Sunday of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, reporting 28,000 cases of malnutrition across the besieged enclave. Health Director-General Dr. Munir al-Bursh called for urgent international action to halt what he described as “ongoing genocide” against Palestinians.

Al-Bursh said that declaring a state of famine should serve as a decisive step, stressing that such a declaration is a “stain on the conscience of the United Nations,” which, he argued, has failed to act despite repeated international reports warning of Gaza’s humanitarian collapse.

He said famine and mass killings have torn apart the Palestinian social fabric, accusing Israel of deliberately using starvation as a weapon to force displacement.

Among the recorded cases of malnutrition are thousands of children and women, he added, describing the ongoing blockade and restrictions on aid deliveries as a “grave moral outrage.”

Al-Bursh warned that if Israeli forces storm hospitals again, as they have in past operations, the majority of casualties would likely be patients. He urged the international community to respond proportionately to the scale of the crisis.

He stressed that ending famine in Gaza must begin with halting the war, noting that the ongoing offensive and repeated targeting of medical facilities continue to block access to food and medicine for thousands of besieged civilians.