A famine has officially been declared in Gaza for the first time since Israel launched its war on Palestinians.
With United Nations food distribution centres shut down, bakeries bombed and humanitarian access throttled by Israel, more than 271 people – 121 of them children – have died from hunger.
Metro previously spoke with Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency, which supports Palestinian refugees, who warned that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war in the Palestinian territory.
Almost three months later, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is expected to confirm famine in Gaza.
The IPC is a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, which has been used to declare four famines since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year.
In order to declare a famine, three strict criteria must be met: at least 20% of households face an extreme lack of food, at least 30% of children suffer acute malnutrition, and two people for every 10,000 die each day due to ‘outright starvation’.
Taahra Ghazi, co-CEO of ActionAid UK, stressed that this is an ‘engineered famine and the direct result of the Israeli authorities’ deliberate blocking of food, water and other humanitarian aid into Gaza’.
Responding to the news from the IPC, she said: ‘That famine should be officially confirmed in Gaza for the first time by the IPC despite months of repeated warnings, and despite it being entirely preventable, is a deep stain on our collective humanity.
‘Let there be no doubt: this is an entirely engineered famine and the direct result of the Israeli authorities’ deliberate blocking of food, water and other humanitarian aid into Gaza, which breaches international humanitarian law. It is utterly shameful that, for so many months, the Israeli authorities have used starvation as a weapon of war with impunity: now we are seeing the calamitous consequences play out.
‘Malnourished mothers are unable to breastfeed their babies; our own staff and partners are dizzy and exhausted because they give any food they can find to their children and go hungry themselves.’
After a global outcry at Israel for severely restricting aid from March, its military began allowing food into Gaza in late July.
But volumes are too small and distribution too chaotic to stop more people becoming malnourished, while those who are already starving or vulnerable are not getting life-saving supplements, three hunger experts and aid workers from six agencies told Reuters.
Jeanette Bailey, a child nutrition lead at the International Rescue Committee, a New York-based aid organisation, stressed that the world is witnessing ‘the worst possible humanitarian catastrophe that we can even measure.’
She said that ‘a lot more children are dying, a lot more pregnant and lactating women suffering from malnutrition.’
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
