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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Politics
Al Jazeera Staff

What ‘starvation’ really means, for the human body and for Gaza

Elderly displaced Palestinian man Salim Asfour, 85, suffers from severe malnutrition, which in has led to him losing over 40kg (88lb) of his body weight. When food is available, Salim gives most of his rations to his family, and his age makes him more vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition; August 3, 2025, Khan Younis, Gaza [Haitham Imad/EPA]

Aid agencies say the limited amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza in the last week is unlikely to avert the famine experts have warned about for months.

While at first most of the starvation-related deaths were among children and infants, increasingly, older people are succumbing to the hunger that Israel has imposed upon the enclave since March.

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