5 die of hunger in Gaza over past day, health ministry says
LONDON -- At least five people died of hunger in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday morning.
A total of 193 people, including 96 children, have died of "famine and malnutrition" in Gaza since the ongoing war began, according to the health ministry.
Israel is under increasing international pressure to facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by nearly two years of conflict between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian militant groups, chief among them Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification -- a global initiative monitoring hunger with the backing of governments, the U.N. and nongovernmental organizations -- warned last week that the "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in Gaza.
Aid distribution in Gaza is being conducted via sites run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating in Gaza in late May. Israel says aid distribution must go through GHF to prevent Hamas seizing aid.
Israel also said it allows the GHF "to operate independently" in the distribution of aid and that troops operate "in proximity" to make sure food is delivered in an "orderly fashion.”
Almost 1,400 Palestinians have been killed while traveling to collect aid in the months since those sites opened, the United Nations said in a statement last week.
ABC News' Samy Zyara, David Brennan, Somayeh Malekian, Diaa Ostaz and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
