After months of warnings about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Initiative announced today that famine has been confirmed in Gaza province, which comprises about 20% of the Gaza Strip, based on "credible evidence".
The famine is projected to spread to the Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis areas by the end of September. "After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, hardship, and death," the UN agency stated.
This figure, based on data collected from 1/7 to 15/8, is expected to rise to nearly 641,000, approximately one-third of Gaza's population, by the end of September.
The IPC said the situation represents the most severe deterioration since it began analyzing hunger in Gaza, driven by the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas and stringent restrictions on access to food supplies.
 |
Palestinians hold empty cooking pots in front of a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on 21/8. Photo: AFP |
Palestinians hold empty cooking pots in front of a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip on 21/8. Photo: AFP
Israel completely blocked aid deliveries to Gaza in early March. By the end of May, Israel eased restrictions, but the amount of aid allowed into Gaza has fallen short of needs, leading to severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel.
The IPC estimates that 98% of Gaza's farmland is now unusable, livestock have died, and fishing has been prohibited. The healthcare system is severely degraded, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation significantly reduced.
According to UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, the famine in Gaza will "haunt us all" and is entirely preventable if the UN were not prevented from delivering food to people in the strip.
"Food is piling up at the border due to systematic obstruction by Israel," Fletcher told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Israel rejected the UN's declaration, claiming the agency's conclusions are based on "Hamas lies". "There is no famine in Gaza," the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated.
The IPC is a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises. Its definition of famine includes three criteria: at least 20% of households facing extreme food shortages; at least 30% of children under 5 acutely malnourished; and at least two deaths per 10,000 people daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
Huyen Le (AFP)
