Gaza: 'Famine is imminent' UN food agency warns

Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash

Source: Christian Aid

The UN food agency says "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza, where an estimated 70% of the population faces catastrophic hunger. William Bell, Christian Aid's Head of Middle East Policy and Advocacy, commented:

"Children in Gaza are dying of malnutrition and disease with desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive. This is suffering on a scale you couldn't imagine. Our local partners in Gaza are responding as best they can, under intense pressure, but essential supplies are running perilously low.

"How many more lives will be lost to malnutrition, disease and airstrikes before our political leaders see this is the case?

"To respond at scale, we need unfettered humanitarian access. That means an immediate and permanent ceasefire for which the international community - the UK Government included - must unequivocally demand today."

The World Food Programme released the latest findings of its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, an international process for estimating the scale of hunger crises, on Monday. It says virtually everyone in Gaza is struggling to get enough food, and around 210,000 people in northern Gaza are in Phase 5, the highest, which refers to catastrophic hunger. It also warned that if Israel broadens its offensive to the packed southern city of Rafah, the fighting could drive around half of Gaza's total population of 2.3 million into catastrophic hunger.