Famine Is Unfolding in Gaza Strip, Experts Say
'The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,' said an interim report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, an initiative supported by the United Nations and major relief agencies.
The job of IPC experts is to assess the risk of famine around the world. The interim report on Gaza released Tuesday doesn't constitute an official statement of famine—that requires a longer process—but it is the first time the group has described the food crisis there in such terms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said 'there is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.'
President Trump later Monday said the U.S. and Europe would help deliver food directly to Palestinians in Gaza. 'Some of those kids—that's real starvation stuff, I see it. You can't fake that,' he said.
The humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks across the Gaza Strip, with residents often going full days without eating a meal and medical workers warning of rapidly rising malnutrition, especially among children. The IPC said at least 16 children under 5 have died of hunger-related causes since mid-July, compared with seven children the U.N. says died of hunger during the entire first half of the year.
Suhair Salim, a 35-year-old from Gaza City, gave birth to a baby last week. She says she hasn't had meat in four months. For the past few days, all she has eaten is bread and water—not enough to produce sufficient breastmilk for her newborn.
'He doesn't get full,' Salim said by phone. 'His skin has turned yellow,' a possible symptom of malnutrition.
The hunger crisis is compounding the human toll of a conflict that has already claimed more than 59,000 lives, according to Gaza health officials, who don't say how many were combatants. The IPC's latest comments on famine conditions come as Israel has faced mounting international pressure to do more to ensure food and other vital aid reach Gaza's more than two million people.
In early March, Israel began a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, banning the entry of all aid and commercial goods. Israel said the move was meant to add pressure on Hamas as talks toward releasing hostages held by the group faltered.
Supplies stockpiled during a cease-fire earlier in the year had largely run down by May. That month, Israel unveiled a new aid-distribution system backed by the U.S. and operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Intended as an alternative to distribution by U.N. agencies, the GHF has been beset by problems from the start, from food running out at distribution sites to deadly shootings near them.
Since launching its war in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has imposed strict inspections and limits on what goods can enter the strip, hindering the delivery of food and other aid.
Israel has blamed the U.N. and humanitarian agencies for not doing more to deliver aid. Humanitarian groups say Israel has impeded their work through delays in clearing aid for distribution and denial of movement.
Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com and Feliz Solomon at feliz.solomon@wsj.com
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