Английская Википедия:Gaza Strip famine

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There is a catastrophic-level food crisis with increasing risk of famine in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israel–Hamas war. The crisis derives from Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed food infrastructure, such as bakeries and flour mills, and a widespread scarcity of essential supplies.Шаблон:Efn This has left over half a million Gazans on the brink of starvation and is part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Strip.

Human rights groups have accused Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare. The limited entry of aid trucks has exacerbated the crisis, prompting experts to label it as one of the worst instances of man-made starvation in nearly a century. According to Michael Fakhri, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, "famine may very well be already occurring".

The entire population in the Gaza Strip is classified in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3 - Crisis, or above. 50% of the population is in IPC Phase 4 - Emergency, and 25% is in IPC Phase 5 - Catastrophe. According to the IPC, the risk of famine is increasing every day. As of early-March 2024, Gaza met one of the three conditions for an IPC-designated famine, with the other two thresholds projected to be met as soon as May 2024.

Before the war

Файл:Gaza Strip Access Restrictions.pdf

Map of the Gaza Strip with Israeli/Egyptian-controlled borders and limited fishing zone

It has been argued that 'thoroughly planned impoverishment' had been a long-term policy of Israel for the Gaza Strip.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn As early as 2000 Israel had banned imports of cooking fuel and gas.Шаблон:Sfn 8,000 settlers spread over 25% of the Strip had exclusive use of 40% of Gaza’s arable land and most of its water.Шаблон:Sfn After Israel withdrew its colonies from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinian elections were held in 2006, which Hamas won. Israel, declaring both the political party Hamas and Gaza itself a "hostile entity",Шаблон:Sfn moved to set in place a blockade, economic sanctions and restrictions which aimed to weaken Hamas's rule in the Gaza Strip. Dov Weissglas explained, "We have to make them much thinner, but not enough to die," the idea being "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Prior to the blockade, Gaza's population stood at 1,6 million, serviced by 400 trucks carrying goods into the Strip every day. Under the new policy, according to the Israeli NGO Gisha, Israel permitted only 106 trucks entry to deliver goods. To obtain permission to import any commodity into the Strip, proof had to be supplied that they were indispensable.Шаблон:Sfn

Diplomatic cables subsequently published by WikiLeaks revealed that Israel had informed the United States in 2008 that, while it would take measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis, it intended to keep Gaza's economy on the "brink of collapse". Precise calculations were made to determine the minimum calorific requirement (2,279 calories per person a day) to avoid malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and these formed the basis for Israel's determination of the truck numbers for food supplies from 2007 to 2010. The calculation excluded factors such as the collapse of agriculture due to the blockade which dried up access to seed markets.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Efn Restrictions on foodstuffs included basic commodities like pasta, -that particular item was reintroduced after John Kerry protested at its inclusion in the list of banned imports- and any delicacies, such as honey, sesame snack halvah, bamba,Шаблон:Efn tea, coffee, sausages, semolina, milk products in large packages, most baking products and limitations on meat and domestic cooking gas.

The Goldstone Report discovered that during the 2008-2009 Gaza War, Israel’s invasion had caused deliberate and massive destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector.Шаблон:Efn Israel also declared 30% of the most arable land in the Strip no-go zones. After 2012, the Red Cross secured an agreement to allow Gazan farmers to cultivate crops of various heights, in areas respectively at 300 metres to 1 kilometre from Israel's fortified border fence. Both cultivators and their rudimentary irrigation devices nonetheless were often exposed to sniping and automated machinegun fire, and crops along the armistice line were, without warning, sprayed by Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Шаблон:Sfn Likewise, Israel placed severe restrictions on fishing within Gaza's waters — the 20 nautical miles agreed to under the Oslo Accords were unilaterally reduced to nine — with fishable areas demarcated with buoysШаблон:Sfn In 2009 Israel further reduced this to a 3 nautical mile limit with the result that 85% of Gaza's fishing water was blocked by Israeli warships.Шаблон:Sfn Israel gunships reportedly fired on local fishermen even within these areas.Шаблон:Sfn

Start of crisis

Following the 7 October attack, Israel announced on 9 October that it was blocking the entry of food into Gaza. Because Gaza was already mostly reliant on food aid, the repercussions were felt immediately. On 18 October, Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme, stated that the population of Gaza was at risk of starvation. Three days later, the UN released a statement saying food stocks were nearly exhausted. By 23 October, Cindy McCain, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, stated people were "literally starving to death as we speak".

On 27 October, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme stated food and other basic supplies were running out. On 3 November, UN officials stated the average Gazan diet consisted of only two pieces of bread per day, and ActionAid stated more than half a million Gazans faced death by starvation. On 11 November, Corinne Fleischer, Middle East regional director of the World Food Programme, stated, "hundreds of people are queueing for hours every day to get bread rations at bakeries," as people were being pushed "closer to starvation."

Damage to infrastructure

Шаблон:See also On 18 October, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a bakery in the Nuseirat Camp, killing four bakers. On X, Refaat Alareer wrote the bakery was one of the last in the central and southern Gaza Strip. On 19 October, several more bakeries were reportedly hit by Israeli airstrikes. By 24 October, many bakeries had reportedly closed down, while those still open had hours-long lines. By 28 October Israeli airstrikes had destroyed a fifth of the bakeries operating in the Strip. On 1 November, Israel bombed one of the last remaining bakeries in Gaza City. On 2 November, UNOCHA stated more than half of all bakeries in Gaza had been destroyed. On 8 November, UNOCHA stated northern Gaza no longer had any functioning bakeries. On 14 November, Israel bombed Gaza's last operating flour mill. Israeli bombings destroyed Gaza's fishing boats and ports. An estimated 22 percent of farmland was destroyed by 12 December 2023. Warehouses, food factories, and lorries were also damaged and destroyed by Israeli bombings.

Growing threat of famine

Cindy McCain stated on 17 November that civilians faced the immediate possibility of starvation. Ten days later, McCain stated Gaza was on the brink of famine, as begging for food became the "new norm." On 7 December, the WFP stated 97% of households had inadequate food consumption and 83% in southern Gaza were surviving through "extreme consumption strategies." By 10 December, the UN, international aid organizations, and relief workers in Gaza warned of mass starvation. A representative for Medical Aid for Palestinians stated, "The hunger wars have started." On 15 December, the United Nations estimated nine out of ten residents were not eating food every day.

The IDF has alleged Hamas stole humanitarian aid; killed people seeking humanitarian aid; and keeps its own supply reserves. The U.S. and the UN both denied Israeli claims that Hamas plays a significant role in causing the famine, with a senior U.S. official stating that "the Israeli government has not brought to the attention of the U.S. government… any specific evidence of Hamas theft or diversion of assistance provided via the U.N. and its agencies. Full stop."

On 20 December, the United Nations stated people in Gaza were experiencing "alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed in Gaza". On 21 December, the United Nations stated more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were starving. On December 1, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, based on a committee of independent experts, placed almost the entire population of Gaza (93% or 2.08 million) at IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) with 79 percent in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 15% (378,000 people) in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). On 22 December, UNICEF warned of the increasingly growing threat of famine in the Gaza Strip. On 29 December, Mercy Corps stated half a million people faced "catastrophic hunger and starvation". By 1 January 2024 ninety percent of Palestinians in Gaza regularly went without food. On 27 February 2024, Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000 people were at risk of imminent famine in Gaza.

Famine

On 3 January 2024, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme, stated 80 percent of all people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger were in the Gaza Strip, stating, "In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity". Food prices rose in Gaza as food stock ran out.

The United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths stated on 5 January 2024, "People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded." Experts warned that the famine in the Gaza Strip was the worst instance of man-made starvation in nearly 100 years. António Guterres stated, "The long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza".

On 16 January, UNOCHA reported 378,000 people in Gaza were in IPC Phase 5, or catastrophic levels of hunger. It reported all 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip were facing acute food insecurity – the highest proportion of a population experiencing starvation in recorded history. The Famine Review Committee (FRC) which compiled the Gaza data on famine in terms of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on December 1, 2023, forecast that the total population will be at Phase 3 by 7 February and that 25% or 500,000 Gazans will reach Phase 5.

On 21 January, a journalist in the Gaza Strip reported that people were making flour using animal food. On 21 January 2024, the UN reported there were only fifteen bakeries still in operation across the entirety of the Gaza Strip. By 30 January 2024, CNN reported that Palestinians were eating grass to stay alive. On 31 January, the World Health Organization's emergencies director stated, "This is a population that is starving to death." On 12 February, the Food and Agriculture Organization stated there were "unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity, hunger, and near-famine-like conditions in Gaza." Israel attacked fishermen in Deir el-Balah attempting to catch fish to eat.

On 17 February, ActionAid stated that "every single person in the territory" was facing famine levels of hunger, stating that people had even run out of animal feed to eat. On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening". On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent.

Southern Gaza

On 7 January, the UNRWA deputy director reported severe hunger in southern Gaza, stating, "I don't know how much more they can bear before something explodes in the southern part of Gaza". On 11 February, the mayor of Rafah stated the city was facing famine and that available supplies were only enough for 10 percent of the population. Long queues for food were reported in Rafah. On 15 February, UNOCHA stated there was "an urgent need to establish a stabilisation centre in Rafah for treating children suffering from severe malnutrition". UNOCHA stated on 17 February that people in Rafah were in "such dire need that they stop aid trucks to take food and eat it immediately". On 19 February, Israeli gunboats fired at fishermen attempting to catch fish off the coast of Rafah. A 73-year-old displaced woman stated on 25 February, "I have never witnessed the starvation like this… Death for us is much better than our current life".

Northern Gaza

The World Food Programme stated nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day. The World Health Organization stated on 25 January that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes. A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death. An relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."

On 10 February, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine". On 15 February, Al Jazeera reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food. The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible". To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass. A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived". In late-February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.

On 20 February, the World Food Programme stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza. In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people". On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza. Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses. One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger." Israeli soldiers shot two sisters searching for food on 25 February. Thousands of people in Gaza City waited for a possible delivery of flour on 25 February.

On 27 February, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, "What is happening in northern Gaza is a true famine... This escalating famine could kill thousands of citizens due to malnutrition and dehydration in the coming days in front of the eyes of the world." A man in the Jabalia refugee camp stated children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?"

Humanitarian aid

Файл:U.S. Central Command airdrops 38,000 MREs over Gaza (8266207).jpg

Image of U.S. airdrop of aid into Gaza. The drop was described as "ineffective" by Oxfam, and "symbolic" by a former director of USAID.

On 9 January, Gisha reported that only 6,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October, the equivalent of twelve days of aid before the conflict's start. Colonel Moshe Tetro, who heads the Israeli unit overseeing deliveries of humanitarian aid, stated that there was no food shortage in Gaza and that existing reserves are sufficient. Another Israeli official stated, "Don't forget that this is an Arab, Gazan population whose DNA is to hoard, certainly when it comes to food."

Officials stated that the worsening crisis was partly attributable to the limited amount of aid being allowed into Gaza, with Cindy McCain stating, "People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food". Arif Husain, the WFP chief economist, stated on 24 January that only between 20 and 30 percent of needed aid was entering Gaza, as UNOCHA accused Israel of "systematically denying" humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza.

On 1 February 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for unrestricted humanitarian access, stating, "Everyone in Gaza is hungry." Human Rights Watch stated that the decision of 18 countries to defund UNRWA risked hastening the famine. The World Food Programme stated on 2 February that aid to northern Gaza was being overwhelmingly rejected by the Israelis. Journalist Abubaker Abed stated, "Families eat strategically, just to stay alive."

While speaking to CNN reporters in February 2024, some Palestinians stated humanitarian aid was being resold on the black market, with packages already opened. Israeli airstrikes around certain areas also caused prices to spike, with a 25-kilogram bag of flour jumping from $20 in Kahn Younis to $34 after intensified airstrikes. The same month, Human Rights Watch criticized the defunding of UNRWA, which they termed "the main humanitarian channel into Gaza", in the face of "mounting risks of famine and a binding order by the World Court in a case about genocide".

On 13 February 2024, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blocked a U.S.-funded flour shipment to Gaza and stated he had done so "in coordination with the prime minister". White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan confirmed Israel was blocking flour from entering Gaza. On 14 February, the Financial Times reported that an aid shipment that could have fed more than 1 million people for a month had been blocked at the Israeli port of Ashdod, with the Israeli government stating the food would not be released. The UN stated aid deliveries had halved in February from the month before. On 28 February, USAID chief Samantha Power stated more aid needed to enter Gaza, calling the situation "a matter of life and death". Following a U.S. announcement that it was beginning airdrops of aid and building a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The time when countries use air drops and these maritime piers is usually, if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory".

Israeli attacks

Шаблон:See also On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150. Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February. On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. In a 21 February article, CNN reported that according to documentation examined by both the UN and CNN, a UN humanitarian convoy carrying food supplies was fired upon by the IDF before being blocked from entering northern Gaza on 5 February. UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need". On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City had reported that three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.

On 29 February, more than 100 people seeking humanitarian died in the Flour massacre, following Israeli gunfire at the Al Nabulsi roundabout west of Gaza City. The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".

On 2 March, three people in Beit Hanoun were killed while picking herbs for food. On 3 March, at least nine people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in an Israeli airstrike in Deir el-Balah. Later on the same day, dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City. The Ministry of Health called it a "horrific massacre". On 4 March, another attack was reported at the Kuwaiti roundabout, after thousands of people waited all day for humanitarian aid, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them as soon as the trucks arrived. Al Jazeera stated the attacks on aid seekers had become "a near-daily occurrence". On 6 March, eight people were wounded after Israel fired live rounds at people seeking humanitarian aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 7 March, five people were killed while waiting for aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 8 March, several people seeking humanitarian aid were reportedly killed by Israeli open fire at the Kuwait Roundabout.

Effect on children

Шаблон:See also On 14 January, Philippe Lazzarini stated, "Whenever you go to a school, the kids are looking at your eyes begging for a sip of water or a loaf of bread." On 16 January, officials reported newborn babies with undernourished mothers were dying within days, and children weakened by starvation were dying from hypothermia. On 18 January, the deputy executive director of UNICEF took a tour of the Gaza Strip, stating he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen" and that "thousands of children are malnourished and sick." On 10 February 2024, a UNICEF spokesperson said Gaza had the world's highest rate of child malnutrition. On 17 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported an instance of an 8-year-old girl who had died from starvation and dehydration.

On 19 February, UNICEF found that nearly 16 percent of children in northern Gaza under two-years-old were "acutely malnourished", with 3 percent suffering from severe wasting. One mother in northern Gaza described the situation on 21 February, stating, "My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger". A two-month-old baby died in Gaza City on 24 February from malnutrition. A doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated they had seen a steep rise in pediatric malnutrition cases. A pediatrician working in Gaza stated, "Nursing mothers are unable to lactate as their health worsens". On 26 February, two children from Gaza City stated they ate once every two days, and were then eating animal feed. Action Aid, citing the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated on 25 February that a "significant number" of children in northern Gaza had already died from starvation. At least six children died of malnutrition on 28 February. Project Hope, an aid organization in Deir el-Balah, stated 11 percent of the under-five-year-olds they had seen were experiencing malnutrition.

On 28 February, a representative from Save the Children stated that due to Israeli bombardment and restrictions on aid, children were starving with trucks full of food waiting to enter into Gaza, describing this as "the killing of children in slow motion". A two-year-old died from food poisoning after eating bread made from animal feed. Four more children died of starvation on 29 February, bringing the week's total to at least ten. Melanie Ward, the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen." The head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital stated the hospital was struggling to find milk to feed infant patients, stating, "Even newborns are emaciated". On 3 March, health officials stated at least fifteen children at Kamal Adwan Hospital had died of malnutrition and dehydration in the preceding few days. CNN reported that the true number could be higher, with a UNICEF representative stating there were likely more starving children "fighting for their lives" in other parts of Gaza.

Accusations of war crimes

Шаблон:Main On 18 December 2023, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip". On 16 January 2024, UN experts accused Israel of "destroying Gaza’s food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people". The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, stated Israel was using hunger as a weapon against Palestinians. On 23 January, Alex De Waal stated Israel was committing a war crime through enforced starvation, stating, "An entire population being reduced to this stage is really unprecedented. We haven’t seen it in Ethiopia, in Sudan and Yemen – pretty much anywhere else in the world."

On 13 February, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, stated, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals." A representative from the Palestinian non-profit organization Juhoud for Community and Rural Development stated, "The denial of access to food, water, and other necessities consists of a serious violation of international law". Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview with El Pais that "We are already in the midst of a catastrophe. The United Nations has had to suspend humanitarian aid: Israel is using famine as a weapon of war and that is contrary to international law." On 3 March, Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard stated that week's death of ten children from malnutrition was unlawful and the result of an Israeli "engineered famine". The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Israel of violating international law by "using starvation as a weapon of war".

Reactions

January 2024

On 7 January, secretary-general of the UN António Guterres stated "widespread famine looms" in Gaza. The UN special rapporteur for health Tlaleng Mofokeng responded to Guterres, stating Gaza was experiencing "deliberate starvation not famine". Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on 12 January, Martin Griffiths stated colleagues who had made it into northern Gaza in recent days had described "scenes of utter horror: Corpses left lying in the road. People with evident signs of starvation stopping trucks in search of anything they can get to survive."

On 11 January, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated there was no hunger in Gaza. On 16 January, Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on food, stated, "What we’re witnessing in Gaza is an entire civilian population made to go hungry... this is a result of Israeli bombardment, this is a result of the denial of humanitarian relief. We’ve never seen anything so brutal happen so quickly". Following a visit to the Rafah border crossing, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen described the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza as an "unnecessarily cumbersome process".

The heads of the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization issued a joint statement stating significantly more humanitarian aid was needed in Gaza. Mohammad Mustafa, the chief economist of the Palestine Investment Fund, stated, "Maybe more people will be killed or die from hunger and famine than the war itself." After major Western donors announced they were suspending funding of UNRWA, the agency stated "over 2 million people [are] depending on it for their sheer survival" as "hunger stalks everyone."

February 2024

On 14 February, a joint statement by fourteen major human rights organizations, including Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, Danish Refugee Council, Handicap International, INTERSOS, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, Project HOPE, Save the Children, Solidarités International, and War Child UK stated, "The risk of famine is increasing each day in Gaza due to the continuation of hostilities, and the continued blockade of the Strip."

The American Friends Service Committee stated, "Everyone is hungry in Gaza today. That is just enormous and truly catastrophic, and we’ve never seen anything like that before." Alex de Waal, a British academic, stated, "There’s no doubt that certain senior members of the Israel government and certain groups within Israeli society have the intent of starving Gaza." He further stated, "Nothing compares to Gaza over the last 75 years."

On 18 February, the heads of eight major humanitarian organizations — including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Mercy Corps, Refugees International, Oxfam America, CARE USA, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, and Catholic Relief Services — wrote a joint op-ed, stating, "If the situation continues we will see one of the biggest disasters we have faced as humanitarians... this crisis will soon reach a tipping point, where emergency food aid won't be enough. Averting mass death becomes harder as starvation gains momentum." The Gaza Media Office stated on 20 February, "We hold the US administration and the international community additionally to Israel fully responsible for this famine."

On 21 February, World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain stated, "A famine doesn’t have to happen. But if things don’t change, it will". Tor Wennesland stated on 22 February that more than 2 million people were facing extreme food insecurity. On 23 February, a UNOCHA official stated, "Famine is looming". The head of the Red Cross stated on 26 February: "80% of the population already faces emergency or catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions". Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, stated that if nothing was done to change the status quo then "widespread famine in Gaza is almost inevitable". On 27 February, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said there was "no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food." Fakhri stated what's happening in Gaza is genocide.

On 29 February, the humanitarian policy director of Oxfam America stated the organization was opposed to proposed U.S. airdrops, stating, "Oxfam does not support US airdrops to Gaza, which would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior US officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and risk of famine in Gaza".

The UN World Food Programme warned of a real prospect of famine by May 2024, for half a million people.

March 2024

A man in Rafah spoke to Al Jazeera, stating, "From the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep, we are battling to survive. We are fighting to get our hands on some water, to get hold of a loaf of bread for our children. We are exhausted, mentally and physically. This is unbearable." Save the Children released a statement saying children in Gaza were "forced to forage for scraps of food left by rats and eating leaves out of desperation. The risk of famine will increase so long as the government of Israel continues to impede the entry of aid." UNICEF responded to news of children dying from starvation, stating, "Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved" On 5 March, UNOCHA stated that the first deaths of children from starvation in northern Gaza were "a warning like no other".

In The Guardian, global health expert Devi Sridhar wrote there was no precedent to the Gaza famine. Sridhar quoted an unnamed colleague, who stated there had never been another conflict in history "that used bombing, snipers, starvation all at once with such intensity". On 6 March, a UN official stated, "Ninety percent of the population today in Gaza is facing a high level of acute food insecurity". A medical student working as a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital documented the first death by starvation in Gaza; he stated, "Do not talk to us again about human rights, I do not know where the world has reached in its brutality and cruelty."

See also

• Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)
• International aid to Palestinians
• Famine in Yemen (2016–present)
• Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present)
• Water supply and sanitation in the State of Palestine
• UNRWA
• World Central Kitchen
• Humanitarian aid during the Israel–Hamas war

References

Works cited

• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite journal