A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Eden Bar Tal, demanded on Tuesday that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN famine monitoring agency, retract its report alleging famine in parts of the Gaza Strip.
"Israel demands that the IPC immediately retract its fabricated report and issue a public apology," Bar Tal said. He warned that if the IPC doesn't comply "within a short period", Israel will provide the agency's donors with evidence of "wrongdoing" in the report's preparation. He did not specify the nature of this "evidence".
Bar Tal accused the IPC of being "politicized" and working for Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel in October 2023, triggering the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The IPC has not yet responded to the allegations.
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Children in Gaza receive a meal from a charity kitchen in Khan Younis on 27/8. Photo: AFP |
Children in Gaza receive a meal from a charity kitchen in Khan Younis on 27/8. Photo: AFP
The UN officially declared a famine in Gaza on 22/8, accusing Israel of "systematically obstructing" aid deliveries to the territory during the 22-month conflict.
The Rome-based IPC stated that the famine is currently affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, comprising about 20% of the Gaza Strip and including Gaza City. The IPC predicts the famine will spread to the Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September, encompassing an area covering almost 67% of Gaza.
Israel has severely restricted aid flow into Gaza, at times imposing a complete blockade during the conflict. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the IPC report a "blatant lie". He said Israel has "no policy of causing famine", citing figures on aid allowed into Gaza.
COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, argued that the IPC's information was "based on incomplete data and unreliable sources".
Meanwhile, Jean-Martin Bauer, director of food security analysis at the World Food Programme, asserted that the IPC provides the "gold standard" for such assessments.
Thanh Tam (According to AFP)
