ANKARA

A Palestinian child starved to death on Saturday in the central Gaza Strip due to Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Rafah crossing, which has prevented humanitarian aid from entering for 26 consecutive days.

“A 13-year-old Palestinian child has died due to starvation in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip amidst the closure of the Rafah border crossing,” the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.

So far, malnutrition and dehydration have claimed the lives of 37 people in the Gaza Strip due to strict restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the besieged enclave, it added.

Israel has kept the Rafah crossing closed for 26 days, sparking warnings of a deteriorating humanitarian situation due to the lack of essential supplies reaching Palestinians, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Around 36,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.