Mourners gather at a funeral of victims killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on a camp sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis on August 5, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
A new survey by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has found that 70% of Palestinians in Gaza are now too weak from starvation to even reach humanitarian aid, while the entire population shows alarming signs of psychological collapse under Israel’s ongoing genocide.
Released Monday, the report strongly condemns Israel's continued campaign of violence and deliberate deprivation in Gaza, warning that it has systematically dismantled the coping mechanisms of an already devastated population.
It documents the disturbing effects of the Israeli regime’s genocidal assault on Gaza’s civilian population, drawing from protection monitoring interviews conducted between May 22 and July 27, 2025. The data was collected at 25 displacement sites across Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Gaza City, and North Gaza.
“Based on protection monitoring interviews with people in Gaza from 22 May to 27 July 2025 in 25 displacement sites in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Gaza City, and North Gaza, the survey exposes the life-threatening consequences of the American and Israeli-backed distribution scheme and the severe psychological toll on a population with no safe haven. Key findings from the survey show a population at breaking point,” the report said.
According to the survey, the majority of the enclave’s population is too exhausted by extreme hunger and is being systematically denied safe access to aid.
“Palestinians trying to access the militarized backed distribution scheme said they witnessed people, including family members, being deliberately targeted, shot, and killed by soldiers. Family members who died seeking aid were described as receiving ‘blood aid’, or ‘aid soaked in blood’,” the report added.
The survey also reveals staggering levels of forced displacement. On average, each person in Gaza has been displaced 9 times, with some individuals reporting up to 12 forced evacuations as safe zones repeatedly became targets.
“Meanwhile, basic services were very limited or non-existent at displacement sites; 46% reported receiving clean drinking water twice a week at their current locations, and 28% said they could get a hot meal from a communal kitchen just once a week,” the document revealed.
As a result of the famine and constant displacements, 33% of the population is experiencing mental health problems, including severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies.
“Palestinians in Gaza describe feelings of constant fear (33%), depression (31%), sleeplessness and nightmares (31%), and anxiety (26%). In 13% of cases, respondents described feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts,” the report stated.
It called for an immediate end to the war and urged the international community to take decisive action to hold the Israeli regime accountable and protect civilians.
The DRC also demanded an urgent halt to the Israel–US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) program, citing its militarized and dangerous nature.
It called for safe, large-scale aid delivery through a principled, UN-led humanitarian response that restores access, dignity, and protection to Gaza’s besieged population.
Since the Israeli regime began its genocidal campaign on October 7, 2023, it has killed nearly 61,020 Palestinians and wounded 150,671, most of them women and children.
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