As the war drags on, famine is ‘imminent’ for northern Gaza
Report warns that 1.1m people are imperiled
Experts project that the northern Gaza Strip will face famine conditions as soon as this month and that half of the enclave’s population will suffer deadly levels of hunger, according to a new report from the global authority that has classified food security crises for decades.
The report, released Monday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, projected that famine is “imminent” for the 300,000 Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza, where such conditions will develop by the end of May. And by mid-July, as many as 1.1 million people in Gaza could face what the group characterized as the worst stage of hunger: an “extreme lack of food,” and severe levels of starvation, death, destitution, and acute malnutrition.
The group — set up in 2004 by UN agencies and international relief groups, and known as the IPC — has classified a famine only twice: in 2011, in parts of Somalia, and in 2017, in parts of South Sudan. In those countries, relatively small proportions of the population met the group’s criteria for famine conditions. In Gaza, residents of the critically threatened north make up more than 13 percent of the population.
According to the IPC, a famine occurs when three conditions are met: at least 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food; at least 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition; and at least two adults, or four children, for every 10,000 people die daily from starvation or from disease linked to malnutrition. (Although IPC experts conduct and review the analysis necessary to classify a famine, only government and top UN officials can officially make an official declaration.)
The report noted that the first condition had already been met and that the second most likely has been reached. Collecting data on the third, malnutrition-linked deaths, is immensely difficult in a war zone, the group has said. The death rate among children appeared higher than for adults, it added, but said it was “impossible to ascertain.”
At least 27 people, including 23 children, have died of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of baby formula, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Shimon Freedman, a spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli agency that oversees policy for the Palestinian territories, on Monday reiterated Israel’s position that it “places no limit on the aid that can enter the Gaza Strip.”
And Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson, called the report an “out-of-date picture” that “does not take into account the latest developments on the ground,” including major humanitarian initiatives last week. He also said Israel is taking “proactive measures” to expand aid delivery in northern Gaza.
Last week, Israel allowed a small World Food Program convoy to deliver food to northern Gaza for the first time since Feb. 20.
After the report was released, the organization’s chief economist, Arif Husain, warned that “time is running out” for many people in Gaza. “This is why children are dying,” he said. “If we don’t get in there, they won’t be dying in 20 or 30s, they will be dying in hundreds and thousands.”
Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises who has written a book about mass starvation, said the situation in Gaza was “unprecedented.”
“None of us who’ve worked in this field have ever seen anything like this,” he said. “It is absolutely shocking.”
In December, the group warned that famine could occur within six months unless fighting stopped immediately and more humanitarian supplies made it into the territory. “Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met,” the latest report said.
The Famine Review Committee, a group within the IPC that studied the report’s nutrition analysis, said famine could be prevented by “an immediate political decision for a cease-fire.”