Expired canned food causes poisoning for Gazans as starvation deepens: Media office

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinians’ consumption of expired canned food in the Gaza Strip caused poisoning due to severe food shortages in the enclave, the territory’s Government Media Office reported on Monday.

In a statement, the office said “people are consuming expired canned foods, causing large numbers of poisonings.”

“Hunger and disease are on the rise among Gaza's population, particularly affecting children,” the statement added.

The office accused Israel of implementing a systematic starvation policy and preventing Gazans from receiving medical treatment.

It noted that Israeli forces have been targeting municipal crews attempting to restore water wells in the region.

The Israeli army has also been directly targeting civil defense teams, deliberately disabling them, according to the statement.

Due to the war and Israeli restrictions, which violate international laws, Palestinians in Gaza, especially in northern areas, face extreme shortages of food, water, and medicine, leading to deaths from hunger.

On June 12, Martin Griffiths, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, predicted that half of Gaza's population would face death and starvation by mid-July if the blockade on humanitarian aid is not lifted.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

More than 37,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio