The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed Friday that malnutrition and hunger rates have reached catastrophic levels across the territory.
The toll stands at 466 starvation deaths since 2024, a figure the ministry released on World Food Day, observed October 16.
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The health authority issued a grim report exposing the consequences of the prolonged Israeli siege. Official projections show that more than 1.4 million people, equivalent to 67% of the population, will face a critical or worse food crisis by the end of 2026. Famine was formally declared in Gaza governorate in August 2025.
“Malnutrition and famine rates in the Gaza Strip have reached catastrophic levels, seriously affecting children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups,” the Ministry said in its statement.
Statement by the Gaza Ministry of Health on World Food Day:
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) October 16, 2026
▪️ "Malnutrition and starvation rates in the Gaza Strip have reached catastrophic levels, ravaging children, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups."
▪️ "A total of 466 deaths due to malnutrition and starvation have…
Children carry a heavy share of the toll. Since 2024, 157 children have died from malnutrition, roughly one third of all starvation deaths. Between 2024 and August 2026, health workers documented 158,001 cases of acute malnutrition in children under five, including 28,716 severe cases that directly threaten life.
The mortality rate among children under five more than doubled, climbing from 13.6 to 33.4 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2022 and 2025. Stunting now affects 12.2% of the child population. Officials estimate that another 74,200 children will require specialized treatment through 2027.
Maternal health has deteriorated sharply as well. Anemia prevalence rose to 61% in 2026, compared with 41% before the conflict. Nearly 4,000 miscarriages were recorded in the first half of the year, more than triple the previous six months. One in every three pregnancies is now classified as high risk.
🇵🇸 466 Palestinians, including 157 children, have died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza since 2024, Health Ministry says
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) October 16, 2026
⚠️ More than 1.4 million people are expected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026
📌 Authorities accuse Israel of… pic.twitter.com/xGVDRsQcWy
Elderly adults account for the largest share of deaths linked to food shortages. The Gazan Ministry registered 189 fatalities among the elderly, or 40.5% of the national total.
The vulnerability among seniors is stark: 11% go entire days without eating anything at all, meanwhile 48% deliberately reduce their own portions to feed their families. 68% of them have interrupted or cut back on medication doses because of widespread shortages.
Three years of war have collapsed the food system. The Ministry’s warning lands as winter approaches and as aid deliveries remain insufficient to meet the scale of need across the territory.
The figures mark the deepest point yet in a hunger emergency that has built steadily since the conflict began. A formal famine declaration, once a rare event, now defines daily reality for hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the enclave.
The projected rise in food insecurity through late 2026, combined with 74,200 children awaiting specialized care, points to a crisis that will persist even if aid access improves.
Facing this emergency, the Health Ministry recalled that the right to food is fundamental. It urged the United Nations and the international community to establish urgent mechanisms that guarantee the safe, sustainable and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid, therapeutic supplements and medicines into the enclave.
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The post Welcome to Israel, Trump’s country appeared first on Asia Times.
On Friday, thousands of students and teachers took to the streets in several Italian cities to protest the policies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
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The protests followed several days marked by a wave of school occupations in Milan, Naples, Turin, Genoa, Bologna and Rome.
The nationwide mobilization, dubbed “No Meloni Day,” combined demands over budget allocations with direct criticism of the Italian government’s environmental policies.
Student groups denounced the progressive deterioration of school infrastructure and called for the €13 billion allocated to military spending to be redirected toward education.
Representatives of the Alternative Student Opposition criticized the rising cost of living and announced a general strike scheduled for Oct. 30.
Un carro armato di cartone è stato dato alle fiamme durante il corteo degli studenti a Torino. Alcuni manifestanti hanno incendiato il modellino con fumogeni colorati, accompagnati dai cori "Brucia, brucia" e dallo slogan "Noi la guerra non la paghiamo", per protestare contro le… pic.twitter.com/RM7BH94cf9
— Sky tg24 (@SkyTG24) October 16, 2026
The text reads, “During a student protest in Turin, a cardboard tank was set on fire. Demonstrators ignited the model using colored smoke flares, chanting “Burn, Burn!” and the slogan “We will not pay for war,” as a form of protest against military spending.
The demonstration was part of the “No Meloni Day”—a day of student mobilization against the government’s educational policies, rising tuition costs, and increased military expenditure.
Similar protests took place across Italy, specifically in Rome, Milan, Florence, Genoa, Venice, Padua, Treviso, and Cagliari. In the capital, organizers estimated the turnout at 20,000 people, while in Turin, more than 2,500 students took to the streets.”
During marches in Rome, tensions escalated when some protesters threw firecrackers and trash containers outside the Education Ministry. Riot police and Carabinieri officers established security cordons and used tear gas to disperse the crowd on Via Marmorata.
“Thousands of students marched from the Colosseum to the Education Ministry. Tensions rose because of a group of masked protesters who threw bottles and improvised explosive devices at law enforcement officers, as well as discharged fire extinguishers,” RaiNews reported.
Similar clashes occurred in Turin and Bologna outside the prefecture and the central railway station, where police responded with water cannons. The violence led to confrontations involving blunt objects, the detention of a masked minor and severe disruptions to rail traffic in northern Italy.
"No Meloni Day"
— 𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕠 𝕃𝕦𝕝𝕫 (@altrella_l) October 16, 2026
Police charges against students
in Rome and Turin. pic.twitter.com/5IGt2pUQLU
Students Reject Discrimination and Racism
Thousands of people marched peacefully in Milan, holding signs and chanting slogans in support of social integration. Youth organizations strongly opposed Meloni’s “Valditara Decree,” which they described as discriminatory and racist.
In effect since June, the decree bans sex and relationship education at the preschool and elementary school levels and requires parental consent to address these topics at other educational levels. It also sets a maximum of 30% for foreign students in each classroom.
“Are these really the problems that need to be solved?” and “Racists out of our schools!” protesters shouted, according to RAI News.
“An entire generation has taken to the streets because it refuses to bow its head — to mind its own business — while others destroy our future,” said Alice, who linked the student movement’s demands to the genocide in Gaza.
“And it all starts right here, in our schools. The pro-Palestinian demonstrations made that clear: Some people have blood on their hands — the blood of genocides taking place around the world — and those same hands are cutting funding for our schools, our lives, and a dignified future in this city.”
“Outside the regional education authority’s headquarters, some participants threw eggs filled with red paint, declaring, ‘This is the blood of Gaza and Palestine,’” RaiNews reported.
No Meloni day here in Italy and antifascist students are facing-off with her cops right now in Bologna. Solidarity comrades.
— GhostofDurruti (@DurrutiRiot) November 14, 2025
No Fascism. No Genocide. No Meloni. pic.twitter.com/wQsgtjRRV2
Truckers, Farmers and Environmentalists Voice Discontent
On Friday, southern Italy faced a severe fuel shortage in the provinces of Calabria, Basilicata and Apulia because of protests by truckers and farmers. Steelworkers’ blockades at Eni’s Taranto refinery brought gas stations to a standstill, causing long lines and operational difficulties for public transportation.
The transport industry association Conftrasporto reported an increase of more than 50 euro cents per liter in diesel prices and demanded the immediate release of budget funds.
Facing the imminent risk of supply shortages, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport called an emergency meeting with industry representatives for Oct. 27.
The student mobilization also coincided with global protests organized by “Fridays for Future” in support of climate action and against fossil fuels.
Italian environmentalists marched to the Environment Ministry in Rome to demand reductions in polluting emissions and action to combat energy poverty across the country.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: RAI – EFE – teleSUR
On Friday, ANSA news agency reported that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office is investigating several Israeli leaders for crimes of torture, kidnapping and “degrading treatment” after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla missions that were attempting to reach the Gaza Strip.
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The prosecutors’ investigations into two activist missions point to about a dozen Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating members of the military, police and prison chains of command involved in the naval and land custody operations related to both expeditions.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the naval boardings carried out by Israeli forces violated international law and involved illegal detentions, as well as the violation of fundamental rights of defense and “conditions of detention and degrading treatment” that could constitute crimes of torture and kidnapping.
“They beat us everywhere”, “It was worse than Guantanamo”
— TRT World (@trtworld) May 22, 2026
Broken clavicles, sexual assault, electric shocks… Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla share shocking accounts of torture by Israeli authorities pic.twitter.com/PKIdCO4SIS
The judicial case in Italy began after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Oct. 1, 2025, when the expedition was attempting to approach the coast of Gaza.
Dozens of Italian activists reported after their deportation that they had suffered assaults during the interception in international waters and abuse while they were held in Israeli prisons.
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office later expanded its proceedings and formally included Security Minister Ben Gvir among those under investigation after the circulation of a video recorded at the Port of Ashdod in which he could be seen mocking dozens of activists who were handcuffed and lying under the sun.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
© MOHAMMED SABER/EPA
© JOÃO PORFÍRIO/OBSERVADOR
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