'Children say they want to go to heaven — because heaven has food'

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemns ‘man-made mass starvation’ as aid groups urge Israel to ease blockade

Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, an 18-month-old child in Gaza City, Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockades. Picture: Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu via Getty Images

The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a “large proportion” of Gaza’s population was staving, while aid organisations urged Israel to ease its aid blockade as more Palestinians died of hunger.

“A large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don’t know what you would call it other than mass-starvation - and it’s man-made,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.