More than 500,000 people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, the United Nations said in a joint statement co-signed by the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and the International Children’s Emergency Fund.
“Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks,” the four global entities said in the press release dated Friday, August 22. “Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, and proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access and a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”
Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths – have been breached. The organisations forecast that by the end of next month, more than 640,000 people will face catastrophic levels of food insecurity across the Gaza Strip. An additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be in emergency conditions, and a further 396,000 will be in crisis conditions, based on the five levels of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the worst being the catastrophic or level 5.
Most Read on Euro Weekly News
“>
Hamas agrees to a peace deal, but Israel continues attacks on Gaza
“>
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis demand a hostage deal with Hamas
“>
Mohammed Salah calls out UEFA
Hunger is claiming lives daily
“People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives every day, and the destruction of cropland, livestock, greenhouses, fishery and food production systems has made the situation even more dire,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Our priority must now be safe and sustained access for large-scale food assistance. Access to food is not a privilege – it is a basic human right,” Dongyu added.
The WHO director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that “a ceasefire is an absolute and moral imperative now. The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine.” The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Famine is not about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival.” The United Nations condemned the Jewish state, “it is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war.”
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher went further. “It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of willful killing.” Despite all the evidence stacked against his government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to deny that anybody in Gaza is starving and says it’s all based on falsehoods. “The IPC report is an outright lie. Israel does not have a policy of starvation. It’s all lies,” he said, according to AP.
