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United Nations officials repeated their warnings about the death of Palestinians in Gaza from hunger, after UN agencies published - the day before Monday - a new classification of food insecurity in the Strip as a result of the Israeli war.
The Executive Director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, said in a statement that the “Integrated Phase Classification” criteria for declaring famine were not met in theory, but “the people of Gaza are dying of hunger.”
The World Food Program estimates that one in three children in the northern Gaza Strip suffers from malnutrition, and that “acute malnutrition among children under the age of five is increasing at a record pace.”
At the same time, Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, said that “having 50% of the entire population at catastrophic levels close to famine is unprecedented.”
In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Bekdol added, "If there is no change in humanitarian aid deliveries, famine will occur."
She explained that the famine "may have started in the north, but we have not yet been able to verify this, due to the lack of access to the areas in question."
Bekdol indicated that an immediate ceasefire would allow the entry of enough food, medicine and drinking water to avoid famine, but that "does not seem likely in the coming days or weeks."
In turn, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths said - in a post on the X platform - “The international community should feel ashamed for not being able to stop the famine.”
According to the “Integrated Interim Classification of Food Security” report published by specialized agencies at the United Nations on Monday, half of Gaza’s population - about 1.1 million Palestinians - suffer from “catastrophic food insecurity” as a result of the war.
This is the largest number recorded by the classification, which defines famine as “a population facing widespread malnutrition and hunger-related deaths due to lack of access to food.”
The report said that “famine is imminent in the northern regions and is expected to occur at any time between mid-March and May 2024” unless something is done to prevent it.
Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip for more than 5 months, leaving tens of thousands martyred and wounded, most of them children and women.
According to Oxfam, 2,874 trucks entered the Gaza Strip last February, equivalent to only 20% of the daily aid that arrived before the seventh of last October.
The World Food Programme's executive director said there was still a "narrow window" to prevent famine, but it required "immediate and unrestricted access to the north."
"If we wait until famine is declared, it will be too late and thousands more will die," she added.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies