Iraq has strongly denounced the ongoing Israeli blockade on Gaza, calling it a “brutal siege” that violates basic human dignity and international humanitarian law. In a statement released Wednesday, government spokesperson Basim al-Awadi urged immediate international intervention to stop what he described as a systematic policy of starvation against Palestinians.

“The heartbreaking scenes of starving children lining up for food and civilians gathering around aid trucks—now turned into death traps—reveal horrifying and immoral practices,” al-Awadi said.

He called for urgent global pressure on Israel to lift the siege and allow humanitarian relief into the war-torn enclave, where aid shortages have triggered a dire humanitarian crisis.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that at least 59,219 Palestinians have been killed and over 143,000 injured since the conflict escalated in October 2023. Since Israel resumed military operations on March 18, over 8,300 additional deaths have been recorded. Tragically, 10 more people died of starvation in the past 24 hours, pushing the total famine-related toll to 111 since March.

Israel imposed a total closure of Gaza in March 2025, halting all aid and commercial shipments. Humanitarian organizations have since warned of widespread famine, disease outbreaks, and the collapse of Gaza’s health system due to critical shortages of medicine, fuel, and food.

Iraq’s statement reflects growing frustration across the Arab world as civilian suffering deepens in Gaza. Baghdad reiterated its solidarity with the Palestinian people and called for an end to what it described as collective punishment by the Israeli military.