Violence surge in Gaza heightens famine risk
Published: 04:10 PM,Oct 17,2024 | EDITED : 08:10 PM,Oct 17,2024
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in the northern Gaza Strip. - Reuters
GAZA: The entire Gaza Strip remains at risk of famine and is experiencing emergency levels of hunger, with intense Israeli military operations adding to concerns and hampering humanitarian access, a global monitor said on Thursday.
About 1.84 million people across the Palestinian territory are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, including nearly 133,000 people experiencing the most severe, or 'catastrophic', levels, according to an analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
That is down from roughly 343,000 people suffering catastrophic hunger at the time of the last update in June, but the number was expected to double in coming months, the IPC said.
The IPC noted an increase in food entering Gaza since May, but said humanitarian access began shrinking again in September.
'The risk of famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip. Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialise,' the IPC said in a summary of the analysis.
Israel's latest evacuation orders in Gaza have disrupted humanitarian operations, and repeated displacements have steadily worn down people's ability to cope and access food, water and medicine, the IPC said.
An estimated 60,000 cases of acute malnutrition among young children were expected between September 2024 and August 2025, according to the IPC. The new analysis was conducted between September 30 and October 4 and does not reflect the most recent developments on the ground.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced by more than a year of war, many of them multiple times. Israeli bombardment has left much of the territory in ruins.
For the past two weeks, the Israeli military has been carrying out an offensive against Hamas in Jabalia in northern Gaza and appears to be cutting off the north completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip, the UN has said.
No food aid entered northern Gaza from October 2 to 15, when a 'trickle' was allowed in, the UN's humanitarian agency said this week. There was barely any food left to distribute, and most bakeries would be forced to shut down within days without additional fuel, it said. — Reuters
About 1.84 million people across the Palestinian territory are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, including nearly 133,000 people experiencing the most severe, or 'catastrophic', levels, according to an analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
That is down from roughly 343,000 people suffering catastrophic hunger at the time of the last update in June, but the number was expected to double in coming months, the IPC said.
The IPC noted an increase in food entering Gaza since May, but said humanitarian access began shrinking again in September.
'The risk of famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip. Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialise,' the IPC said in a summary of the analysis.
Israel's latest evacuation orders in Gaza have disrupted humanitarian operations, and repeated displacements have steadily worn down people's ability to cope and access food, water and medicine, the IPC said.
An estimated 60,000 cases of acute malnutrition among young children were expected between September 2024 and August 2025, according to the IPC. The new analysis was conducted between September 30 and October 4 and does not reflect the most recent developments on the ground.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced by more than a year of war, many of them multiple times. Israeli bombardment has left much of the territory in ruins.
For the past two weeks, the Israeli military has been carrying out an offensive against Hamas in Jabalia in northern Gaza and appears to be cutting off the north completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip, the UN has said.
No food aid entered northern Gaza from October 2 to 15, when a 'trickle' was allowed in, the UN's humanitarian agency said this week. There was barely any food left to distribute, and most bakeries would be forced to shut down within days without additional fuel, it said. — Reuters