Latest news with #InternationalRescueCommittee
Days of Palestine
a day ago
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
American Investigation: Israel Uses Starvation as Weapon of War
DaysofPal- A U.S.-based investigative outlet The Intercept stated that 'Israel' is employing starvation as a deliberate weapon of war against Gaza's population, according to a new investigative report it conducted. The report described the policy as a systematic violation of international humanitarian law. Despite abundant food in surrounding areas, Gaza's 2 million residents face severe famine, not from a shortage of supplies, but from the Israeli blockade and stringent military restrictions on aid deliveries. The report cited Bob Kitchen, Vice President of Emergency at the International Rescue Committee, who called the crisis 'a completely man-made famine' and condemned the Israeli closure of border crossings and obstruction of humanitarian aid. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, at least 222 people, including 101 children, have died from hunger in recent weeks. Over 18,000 children have been treated for severe acute malnutrition since the start of the year, while many others are denied treatment due to shortages of medicines and equipment. More than 1,500 people have also been killed while trying to reach food distribution points. Food prices have soared amid the blockade, with a bag of flour selling for around $100 when available. Thousands of tons of aid remain stuck at Gaza's borders in Jordan and Egypt, awaiting Israeli approval that is often denied. Before the current war, international agencies operated hundreds of aid distribution points across Gaza. Today, only four remain, all in the south, forcing civilians to risk dangerous journeys through checkpoints or war zones to access basic food supplies. International law explicitly prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare, whereas Human rights groups say the Israeli actions constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. They warn that temporary 'humanitarian pauses' or limited 'safe corridors' are insufficient and call for sustained, unrestricted aid deliveries to restore minimal food security. Kitchen emphasized that the blockade's end requires 'intense international pressure,' particularly from governments with influence over the Israeli occupation, including the United States. The report concludes that Gaza's crisis is not the result of natural disaster or global supply shortages but of 'a deliberate political and military decision' to impose a siege and use hunger to subdue an entire population, a policy that, if left unchanged, could condemn an entire generation to death or lifelong suffering. Shortlink for this post:
Zawya
2 days ago
- Health
- Zawya
International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to rapidly spreading cholera outbreak in eastern Chad
A rapidly escalating cholera outbreak in eastern Chad has claimed 16 lives and infected at least 288 people across three health districts in the last week, with the majority of cases reported in several refugee camps in Ouaddaï province. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is responding by delivering emergency health services in affected camps, working alongside government partners to contain the outbreak and support vulnerable communities. This growing health crisis is unfolding at a time when Chad's health system is already under extreme pressure. The country is facing a massive influx of refugees—over a million people, including more than 875,000 who have fled the conflict in Sudan over the past two years. Severe flooding, limited funding, and a lack of medical staff, equipment, and infrastructure are making it even harder to respond. Poor sanitation, unsafe water, and the ongoing rainy season are creating the perfect conditions for cholera and other waterborne diseases to spread quickly. Alain Rusuku, Country Director for the IRC in Chad, said: "We're seeing families who have already fled violence now facing the threat of a deadly disease with little protection. It's heartbreaking to witness how quickly cholera is spreading in overcrowded camps where clean water and sanitation are scarce. The IRC is working closely with the Ministry of Health to deliver life-saving treatment and raise awareness about cholera prevention in the affected camps. We're currently providing targeted emergency support in two of the hardest-hit sites, as part of our broader work across nine refugee camps in Eastern Chad. But this outbreak is a clear warning sign: without urgent support, including long-term investment in water, sanitation, and health systems, the crisis will only worsen." Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Rescue Committee (IRC) .
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
The desperate struggle to squeeze aid into a starving Gaza
Advertisement Now Israel is pausing the fighting in some parts of Gaza each day to help aid convoys move, approving some imported food for sale in Gaza and allowing aid to be airdropped. But all of it is far too little, far too late, aid officials say. Nothing less than a ceasefire will allow the necessary avalanche of aid to flow safely into Gaza, they say. Israeli leaders' decision to take control of Gaza City throws the aid system into further doubt. To have a real impact, aid agencies say Israel needs to allow in the hundreds of thousands of pallets of aid languishing outside Gaza -- enough to cover around 100 soccer fields, they say -- and help ensure that the aid can be distributed safely. Letting in small numbers of trucks and airdropping supplies is little more than a public relations stunt, aid officials contend. Advertisement 'It's a joke, it's all just theatrics,' Bushra Khalidi, an aid official working on Oxfam's response in Gaza, said last week. 'We're talking about 2 million people. It's not 100 trucks or a pausing or a few hours of calm that is going to meet the needs of a population that has been starved for months,' Khalidi said. 'Starvation has a long-term impact, and it affects growth of children, and it's not something that you can reverse by throwing energy bars from the sky.' Israel says that the level of hunger has been exaggerated and that it is doing its best to lessen it. Israel's military spokesperson has said there is no starvation in Gaza. The Israeli agency coordinating aid for Gaza did not respond to a request for comment. Israel has also blamed the United Nations for not bringing in more food, while the organization says that Israel frequently denies or delays its requests to bring in convoys, among other challenges. Many aid workers say airdrops endanger desperate people while feeding only a few, and only those physically able to retrieve it. During previous airdrops, people have been injured by falling aid; others have drowned or crossed into combat zones to retrieve packages that fell there, officials say. When he recently saw a plane drop aid by parachute, Mohammed Abu Taha, 43, who is sheltering in southern Gaza, ran toward it. By the time he arrived, other Palestinians were fighting over the remaining bags of food. 'People are too desperate,' he said. 'I ran a lot and got nothing at all.' Advertisement Each airdrop delivers at most two truckloads of aid, and usually less, aid officials said. 'Airdrops are the most ineffective, expensive way of delivering aid possible,' said Bob Kitchen, who oversees emergency response at the International Rescue Committee, a group working in Gaza. With nearly 1 in 3 people going without food for days at a time, according to the United Nations, clinics treating malnutrition are at or over capacity. Children are becoming too weak to scavenge through trash for food or even to cry, aid workers say. An international group of experts said in late July that famine thresholds had been reached across much of Gaza. Health officials there say scores of people have died from malnutrition, including dozens of children, though aid workers say that is probably an undercount. Aid workers say that number could potentially climb to the tens or hundreds of thousands without a rapid surge in aid. Weakened by months of extreme deprivation, people have few defenses left to stop illnesses as ordinary as diarrhea from killing them. And those diseases are rampant. The number of people with acute watery diarrhea increased by 150% from March to June, and those with bloody diarrhea by 302%, health data from aid agencies shows. Those figures, which include only people who can reach medical centers, are most likely an undercount, according to Oxfam. Staving off famine therefore depends not only on food, but also on fuel to run hospitals, cooking gas to make meals and clean water and sanitation to keep waterborne diseases in check -- all of which are absent or nearly absent from Gaza, aid workers say. Aid agencies have received 200 to 300 trucks in Gaza each day for the past several days, the Israeli agency coordinating aid said. They mainly carried flour along with prepared meals, infant formula, high-energy biscuits, diapers, vaccines and fuel, the United Nations said. Before the war, Gaza received 500 to 600 trucks a day of aid and goods for sale. Advertisement The flour provides calories, but will not save those who are severely malnourished after nearly two years of deprivation, aid workers say. Malnourished people need specialized feeding and care. Yet hospitals have few supplies left. David M. Satterfield, who served as special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues in the Biden administration, said the only practical solution was to 'flood the zone' with aid. 'It's not rocket science,' he said. It is too late to reverse developmental and cognitive harm to young children who have been malnourished for months, experts say. 'The damage is already done, and that's going to be a lifelong impact for a lot of people,' said Beckie Ryan, the Gaza response director for CARE. 'What we can do is mitigate that going forward and stop it getting worse. But it does require a huge amount of supplies and aid to be able to come in as soon as possible.' The death toll from the war has passed 60,000, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israel cut off aid to Gaza in retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. Limited aid deliveries later resumed under a U.N.-run system, until March, when Israel imposed another total blockade. In May, Israel largely replaced the U.N. aid system by backing a new operation mainly run by American contractors. Israeli officials said that was the only way to ensure the food would not fall into Hamas' hands. Advertisement At least 859 Palestinians seeking food from the private sites have been killed since May 27, in most cases by Israeli soldiers, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office. Israeli officials have said they fired shots in the air when crowds came too close or endangered their forces. The violence has renewed calls to allow the United Nations to resume managing aid. The New York Times reported that the Israeli military had never found proof that Hamas systematically stole aid from the United Nations -- a charge Israel frequently repeated. 'We are struggling to understand why you need to come out with parallel shadow systems, when we had a fully functional aid distribution system in Gaza managed by the U.N. and international agencies,' said Jamil Sawalmeh, who oversees ActionAid's Gaza response. Even with Israeli pauses in fighting, it is dangerous for aid trucks to move around Gaza. While Israel is approving more movement by aid groups, which have to be coordinated in advance, teams still faced delays and other obstacles, the United Nations said. The American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Wednesday that the number of the U.S.-backed sites could soon quadruple. An Israeli security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules, said Israel was increasing the number of trucks entering Gaza, including by withdrawing some forces and working to open a third crossing into the enclave. Even when trucks can move, little makes it to the aid warehouses where humanitarian agencies collect supplies before distributing them. Advertisement Most of it is taken by the thousands of Palestinians, including some armed gangs, who regularly wait near the trucks' route to grab whatever they can, aid workers say. But doing so can be deadly, with 514 killed since May 27, mostly by Israel's military, according to U.N. figures. On Wednesday, Ehab Fasfous, 52, a resident of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, inched toward the trucks' route, aware, he said, that Israeli soldiers could open fire if he ventured too close. He shared a series of videos of the mayhem he saw next: hundreds, perhaps thousands of people closing in on the trucks from every direction. At one point in the videos, which he said he took, a man menaces another person with a knife near a bag of flour. Fasfous went home empty-handed. 'They've deprived us of so much that now we're behaving like animals,' he said. Only those who can brave such dangers get aid, aid officials say. The people most in need -- like pregnant women, older adults or the sick -- receive only what aid groups bring them, unless they can pay the astronomical prices of what little food is available in markets, aid workers say. 'We have to find a way for assistance to reach the weakest,' said Antoine Renard, the World Food Program's director for the Palestinian territories, who visited Gaza this week. The price of flour has dropped precipitously in recent days, according to Gaza government statistics, but it remains unaffordable for all but the few who still have resources. Yaser Shaban, 58, spends his salary as a Palestinian civil servant and his savings on flour, canned food and herbs at the market. If he goes to a privately run center or tries to take aid from a truck, 'I have no guarantees I'll bring something back,' he said. 'And if I get killed, what chances does my family have then?' he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The Intercept
5 days ago
- Health
- The Intercept
'A Purely Manmade Famine': How Israel Is Starving Gaza
As the Israeli government weighs, once again, expanding its genocidal military campaign in Gaza, the enclave is sliding into a full-scale famine. 'We're seeing a purely manmade famine,' says Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies at the International Rescue Committee. 'The Gaza Strip is surrounded by very fertile farming territory. All of the countries around Gaza have more than enough food.' This week on the Intercept Briefing, Intercept reporter Jonah Valdez speaks with Kitchen about what U.N.-backed hunger experts have called a 'worst-case scenario.' Kitchen lays out how Israel's ongoing war, combined with severe restrictions on humanitarian aid and commercial access, has created near-impossible conditions for food and medical supplies to enter Gaza — accelerating a crisis that could soon be irreversible. 'The only thing that's changed is the war, the restrictions on humanitarian aid, the restrictions on the market economy where commercial traffic can't get in,' says Kitchen. 'That's the only thing that is driving the hunger right now.' Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Transcript Jonah Valdez: Welcome to The Intercept Briefing. I'm Jonah Valdez. Since Israel began choking off aid to Gaza nearly six months ago, U.N.-backed hunger experts issued their gravest warning yet: that a worst-case famine scenario was unfolding. There are three criteria that must be met for a famine to be officially declared: widespread extreme food shortages, high levels of acute malnutrition, and the extent of malnutrition related-mortality. The first two are evident — the third is hard to confirm. But Palestinians in Gaza did not need this confirmation. At least 18,000 children have been hospitalized for acute malnutrition since the beginning of this year. Though officials say the vast majority of malnourished children can't reach medical care. At least 175 people — 92 children and 82 adults — have died of hunger in Gaza in recent weeks, according to Gaza health officials. And over 1500 people have been killed in the last few months while trying to access food — many near distribution sites that were supposed to provide safety. This is a crisis created by Israel's policy — one that aid organizations say could be solved. To help us understand what's happening on the ground and what it would take to address this crisis, we're joined by Bob Kitchen from the International Rescue Committee. He is the vice president of global emergency and humanitarian actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Bob, thanks for joining us. Bob Kitchen: Thanks for having me. Jonah Valdez: So we're speaking on Wednesday, August 6th, and you've worked in humanitarian crises around the world for over two decades. How does what you're seeing in Gaza compare to other famines you've witnessed and what makes this situation unique? Bob Kitchen: Well, I was just gonna say unprecedented, 'unique' is a good term. When we see famines normally, it's normally as a result of the intersection of conflict and then some form of natural disaster, natural hazard where the man-made conflict turbocharges the effects of climate — where whether it's a drought, where food has failed, the crop has failed, where farmers can't get to market because of insecurity. What we're seeing now is not that. We're seeing a purely manmade famine where Gaza, the Gaza Strip, is surrounded by very fertile farming territory. All of the countries around Gaza have more than enough food. So the only thing that's changed is the war, the restrictions on humanitarian aid, the restrictions on the market economy where commercial traffic can't get in. That's the only thing that is driving the hunger right now. JV: And I want to ask you more about those conditions specifically. But first, could you tell us more about the work IRC is doing on the ground to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition? BK: People very rarely die of just hunger. As people get more and more hungry, their system becomes more and more prone to communicable diseases. People normally die of dehydration as a result of dirty water. So our primary focus is on distributing clean water, helping with the sanitation system — so installing and maintaining latrines, cleaning up solid waste and sewers. And then as a secondary priority that is urgent in and of itself, we're looking at nutritional screenings. So we're doing massive screening campaigns to identify particularly children who are themselves slipping into acute malnutrition, and then either helping them or referring them into inpatient care so they can try and stabilize and recover. JV: And as you alluded to, aid organizations, as you know, have been clear that this isn't a supply problem and there's enough food and medical supplies available elsewhere, but the crisis stems from the conditions that the Israeli government has created that prevent aid from reaching people who need it. Can you walk us through the specific logistical barriers your team is facing? BK: It starts with the fact that there's tens of thousands of tons of food waiting to go into Gaza — prepositioned in Jordan, in Egypt, all around, ready to go in. But before any aid is allowed into Gaza, we all have to ask for permission with the government of Israel. It's a long, bureaucratic process. And at the moment, a lot of aid is turned down. It's rejected. It's not allowed in. So for us, for example, we have multiple trucks of what's called RUTF, reinforced therapeutic feeding supplies, that we use to help particularly children, as I said, stabilize and begin the process of recovery from acute malnutrition. We have trucks full of it. We have pharmaceutical supplies ready to go, and we've been asking for permission for almost six months to bring these trucks across the border from Jordan and in through Israel, into the Gaza Strip. It would help thousands of people, particularly children, and we have not been given that permission, so they're just sitting waiting. And that is our situation, but it's mirrored across the tens, hundreds of U.N. agencies and international and local organizations that are trying to provide assistance to the 2 million civilians on the ground who have run out of food. JV: And I want to zoom in a little bit on what you said about these trucks just sitting there and you've been asking for permission for six months, you said. It's worth mentioning the Israeli government, its defenders, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have all propagated this line that aid restrictions are necessary to prevent Hamas from stealing aid and they have to do this for security purposes and that the United Nations is refusing to actually distribute the aid, there's no blockage — despite ever providing evidence to back any of these claims. What do you and IRC make of these explanations and justification for the ongoing blockade? BK: Well, not to put too blunt a point on it, I think they're incorrect. I think they're wrong. I think the humanitarian community, comprised of the United Nations and international organizations like the IRC, have decades of experience working in complex war zones where resources are scant and parties to the conflict frequently try and get their hands on aid. And we have a history of being able to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance, food, water, medicines to civilians. We are audited all of the time, all around the world. And what's called aid diversion, where food supplies is stolen by parties to the conflict, is a big issue for auditors. They look at it and take it very seriously, and we pass with flying colors, all of these audits because we know what we're doing. What's more ironic is that we have collectively decades of experience of doing this inside Gaza. I was particularly struck in the last couple of weeks by a New York Times report where a government of Israel, an IDF person, spoke to the fact that based on their assessment there's no evidence of aid diversion. There's no evidence of aid being stolen, of it benefiting Hamas. That seems to be a pretty clear statement to the fact that the previous system run by the United Nations, run by international NGOs, were successful in getting aid through to civilians. And that has now, not completely but almost stopped and has been replaced by another system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that is struggling to feed less than a quarter of the population. And while they do it, many people are being killed. JV: Right. Right. And thanks for mentioning other coverage disputing some of the lines coming from the Israeli government. I'm wondering if there's anything else, as far as what you would want people to understand about this crisis, that isn't getting through in most media coverage. BK: I think the starting point for me is the fear of providing material support to a terror group is legitimate. But we have a proven track record that the military of Israel has said that — in its own words — is not providing material support to Hamas. And the one thing I know for sure is that you don't create terrorists by feeding very hungry children — it's the inverse. If you don't feed children, if you don't feed a population to the point where they're starving, that's where anger really festers, that's where resistance really builds. So in the overarching theory of change of defeating Hamas, this is not going to work. JV: The IRC website says, 'Gaza is not just experiencing hunger — it is enduring a slow, systematic death by starvation.' The IRC [is] also warning the Israeli government that its 'tactical pause and limited humanitarian corridors will not meaningfully alleviate Gaza's catastrophic hunger crisis.' Could you talk more again about the role the Israeli government is playing in creating and perpetuating this crisis? BK: I will do, but let me just say some things about that statement. JV: Please. BK: It's not just about food. If you reflect on what I said to start with — that people very rarely die of just hunger, it's normally complications that come alongside that. It therefore is not just food that is urgently required. It's food. It's medicine. It's oral rehydration salts to help people recover. It's IVs. It's the materials that we require to be able to give people jerry cans so they can safely store water. It's getting money, cash in to pay our staff and to buy things. Delivering aid to 2 million people who have suffered nearly two years of real violence — it takes everything that a society needs because there's nothing left inside Gaza. So under international humanitarian law, states are obliged to ensure the provision of food, medicine, and water. They're failing to do that at the moment. We're collectively failing to do that because of the restrictions that have been placed on us. But it takes a lot more than that to mitigate the risks that this population is facing after such a long time. And it's the bureaucratic impediments that we have to navigate are broad and well-seated. So requesting aid, getting aid across the primary checkpoint, close to Rafah, getting it — everything is searched, offloaded and searched, put back onto trucks. That's the first major hurdle. But then getting it into Gaza, moving it away from the 'border,' from the checkpoint, and across the territory to where so many people are still based itself is complex because there is a war going on. The pauses that have been declared are short-term. They're focused primarily in the west of the territory, which is on the opposite side of the strip from where the majority of aid is crossing. 'The only solution is an overwhelming amount of aid to go in.' So getting in through an active war zone is possible, but it's not straightforward. And then we're distributing and moving within a population of 2 million that we spent the last 15 minutes talking about extreme levels of hunger — so there is matching levels of desperation. So it is an increasingly insecure place where it is difficult to move around in trucks that have aid in with people surrounding you that are desperate, without them trying to access the aid themselves. So it is a multilayered and complex situation and frankly, the only solution is an overwhelming amount of aid to go in, in a way that is sustained. It will take months of unimpeded and free-flowing aid to catch up with the needs of people so that things can settle down. JV: Right. And you know, you mentioned the desperation. I'm wondering if you could walk us through more of those logistical challenges on the ground that continue in getting aid delivered to Palestinians. There was a stat published by the United Nations that since May, 2,604 U.N. aid trucks have entered the strip, but only a small fraction of those have actually reached their destination. And of course, I think it's worth mentioning that GHF and the Israeli government has said, well, this looting is more evidence that Hamas is doing the looting, that they're stealing aid. Talk about the desperation, the logistical challenges that these aid groups are facing. BK: So it's the right question to ask, and my answer is going to be both understandable and unacceptable at the same time. We don't tolerate crime, we don't tolerate the theft of humanitarian aid — but that's what we're facing right now. As you cross into Gaza — I was there last year, went into Gaza during the war and saw it firsthand — that as soon as the trucks cross the Israeli checkpoint and go into Gaza, they're entering a territory that no longer has law enforcement. What was provided, the police were Hamas. They have been killed. They've taken the uniforms off, they're hiding. They're no longer on the streets for sure. So what you are then faced with as a truck driver, whether you work for the commercial sector or whether you work for NGOs and U.N. agencies, is a very large number of people that are desperate, who will do almost anything to get their hands on food and other aid supplies. Whether to feed their family — that's the majority now — or whether to sell onto the market to make some food, to make some money. Now, the reality is that that crowd that I'm discussing is made up of both criminals who have organized themselves into gangs, unknown armed elements — I don't know their identity. But then there is also civilians, who are taking desperate actions because of the desperation they feel. So, writ large, it's a dangerous situation. High number of aid convoys that have gone in have been looted and others have just not been able to get into the territory because it's so dangerous. So they're able to cross the checkpoint and then they're parked up. So when [the] government of Israel say X number of trucks have passed through the checkpoint — there is a large number of trucks on any given day that are waiting to try and seek some safety before they proceed along one road that is preyed upon on a daily basis by criminals and civilians and other armed elements that are looting the trucks. So it's a very difficult situation, but I will say you can track it back to there is nothing in Gaza. There is no food, there is no commercial traffic coming in, so there's nothing on the market. Inflation is something like 700 percent. Bags of flour sell at close to a hundred dollars at the moment. People don't have any money. There's no work, they have no food. So it is both understandable and unacceptable at the same time. And the only solution is to open multiple gates so it's not just one gate and one road; and flood the Gaza Strip with food and water and medicine. So the level of desperation, the level of criminal opportunity goes down because there's things on the market and people are getting the aid they need. [BREAK] JV: Could you tell me about the major disparity between what's accessible now versus other points of the conflict, specifically during the ceasefire? We're talking GHF, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is operating, I believe, four aid sites right now, which is dwarfed by — BK: A drop in the ocean. JV: Right, right. BK: That's the word you're looking for — a drop in the ocean. JV: A drop in the ocean. How many aid sites were there previously? I mean, hundreds right? BK: Hundreds. UNRWA, the U.N. office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, operated more than 100 sites for distribution. And then alongside them, organizations like the IRC and many other international groups and then Palestinian organizations had their own distribution sites. So there's a number of very bad, worrying things going on here. Number one, it is no longer an issue of the cost of food and other supplies being prohibitive on the market. It's just the fact that there is nothing on the market anymore. No matter how much money you have, you can't readily buy food off the market. So, for example, my staff on the ground in Gaza, we employ just less than 60 Palestinians on the ground — they can't find food. Their children are now starving. Two things that I have never done in the 25 years I've been in the humanitarian industry is number one: I am now serving one meal a day in the office to try desperately to give my staff some food for them to be able to survive. So I'm finding ways to afford and to import food into the Gaza Strip, specifically for my staff. I have done that in other locations where there is no food because of a natural disaster. I've done that when we're just right out in the middle of the desert. I've never done that when there is plentiful food within 25 kilometers. The other thing I'm doing is I'm opening my nutritional programs to the children of my staff. These are well-paid professionals, highly educated, receiving an NGO salary. But they can no longer find the food to be able to feed their children, and their children are officially falling into acute malnutrition. So we're having to open up our programs to our own staff children. We've never done that before. And it speaks to the desperation of the situation and how unacceptable the situation we face is. So in addition to my staff, this is being faced by people across the Gaza Strip. So you asked about the GHF distribution sites, there's some very important things that you should be aware of. Number one, we've seen a decrease from what I was just saying about there being hundreds of distribution sites to only four — which in itself is crazy to try and serve that number of people from just four sites. No wonder they have crowd control issues, no wonder it's a very dangerous situation. What is more worrying is that all of those four sites are in the south of the Gaza Strip, so people are being forced to either move permanently from the north of the Garza Strip down into the south, so there's a greater concentration of desperation, mouths to feed. There's no resources, but whatever resources there are, they're now stretched even further because of the density of the population who have walked down. And if they do try and travel down and then return, they're crossing multiple checkpoints that the government of Israel has installed, which themselves are very dangerous. So either the profile of the population is being forced to change, where people are traveling to the south to find food. Or people are taking double risks by moving down north, south across the strip, across multiple checkpoints before they even take on the danger of going to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, which themselves are extremely dangerous. JV: Could you talk more about from a health care standpoint of the actual physical toll and the health toll on the body that something like malnutrition has in the short term, in the long term, up until someone's death, or if they happen to survive it? BK: I will flag that I am neither a doctor or a nutritionist. I am proudly a generalist. So I'll tell you what I know, and this is born of working in some of the most severe food security situations around the world, but I'm not a doctor. So there's two groups that we are most concerned about. Obviously under 5s are where we really focus a lot of our attention on because of two pressures. Number one, when you've yet to reach the age of 5, your system is developing in an accelerated fashion and requires nutrition to be able to do so. So if you are starved of nutrients — of food — your development is profoundly and irreversibly impacted, so that results in wasting and stunting. So you may not be able to fulfill your potential of growth. Your organs will not develop in the way they're supposed to. So there is a chance of long-term illness. So that is profoundly serious for this population in the long term, given the number of children who are still in that developmental phase. The other pressure that young kids face is that they're so much more vulnerable to food security. They have less reserves. So if a kid under 5 doesn't get the food they need, they more rapidly move toward the danger zone of severe acute malnutrition where intervention is urgently required, and without it, they will pass away. So what that looks like for them and in a slower way for older children and then adults because of the reserves that we develop as we grow older, is that your system starts to close down. So the body prioritizes getting nutrition, nutrients to your brain. So your major organs start to close down, you are very susceptible to outbreaks and diseases that are sadly common in this type of environment. So, as I said earlier, people rarely die of just acute hunger. What they normally die of is diarrhea — acute watery diarrhea — where they're eating in unsanitary environments. The food is dirty, their hands are dirty as they're eating, or they're drinking contaminated water. That gives them — what we would see as an upset stomach — what they see is a life-threatening disease because as soon as you get acute watery diarrhea or diarrhea of any form, your system is rapidly becoming dehydrated. And that is a cause of death when you're that hungry. JV: Not to mention individuals who may have preexisting conditions. BK: Oh, for sure. JV: I'm wondering if you could say more about people with injuries from airstrikes or military operations. How it's even more— I've seen reporting [say] that it's more difficult to recover from those injuries when malnourished or lacking food. BK: I'm not a doctor, but this is not brain surgery. This is simple math. Your body requires more good nutrients to recover from injury, to rebuild bones or heal wounds, or recover even just from trauma. So when you don't have those, the healing process is slow or non-existent. And because of the trauma that your body's trying to handle and trying to keep the systems running, you have less resilience and therefore things start closing down more rapidly. It's terrible for the individuals who have already suffered violence and injuries to now not get the nutrients they need to recover. JV: Right. And in preparing for this interview, one of your colleagues mentioned that there's a real potential for a lost generation in Gaza. What does that mean? BK: They're probably referring to what I was referring to before: the children who [are] unable to develop in the way they need to, whether that's physical or brain power. Brain function is affected by lack of nutrition, lack of growth — developmental. So there's a real risk of physical constraints. But it doesn't need to be even that. It can be: We're now two years into there not being any schools. So there is a generation of children who are not only deeply traumatized, but they also don't have access to education. They don't have the ability to continue to develop, have normal relationships with other kids, [and] have normal relationships with anyone because of the violence that they're surrounded by. JV: Thanks for that. So last month, as I'm sure you know, more than 100 humanitarian aid and human rights organizations signed a letter urging for governments to act — to push the Israeli government for an immediate ceasefire and to end the siege, and immediate flood of aid. Things we've talked about here in this conversation. And I noticed that IRC was notably absent from the letter, which included other notable organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, MedGlobal, CARE. I'm wondering, I just want to give you a chance to explain IRC's thinking around this issue and why IRC didn't join other aid groups in making these calls in that letter at least. BK: Yeah, it's a simple answer. Much of that letter is right on the money. We agree with it completely, but as an organization, we prioritize the continuation of delivery of services on the ground. So we've chosen to prioritize staff safety and program continuity over signing joint letters such as that one. JV: On a similar topic, as you know, some humanitarian organizations, a growing number of organizations are using the word 'genocide' to describe what's happening in Gaza. I'm wondering where does IRC stand on that? BK: We stand as a humanitarian organization. We [are] approaching 100 years of experience helping communities affected by conflict around the world. But we're a humanitarian organization rather than a human rights organization. We don't feel as though we have the mandate or expertise to be able to define, to make that decision ourselves. We'll leave that to the responsible courts and member states who have to judge that. I hope they do soon. JV: Yeah. And speaking of courts and this shift in the past week that we've been seeing in tone across the globe from the U.K., France, and Canada signaling they're ready to accept Palestinian statehood to a U.S. Senate vote last week where a record number of Democrats voted against a weapons deal with Israel. And new polls showing the majority of Americans disapprove of Israel's offensive in Gaza. I'm wondering in terms of accountability, who has the power to change the situation that we laid out, that you laid out in the conversation today, and what pressure points exist to make that happen? And more specifically, what can the U.S. government and other western governments as well as average Americans do in this moment? BK: Yeah, I think it's going to take — a very American sports term — but a full court press from all member states, international governments, to convey to the government of Israel that it's enough that 2 million civilians are suffering and are dying. And the violence on October 7 was unforgivable. But more violence is not the answer. More death is not the answer. So the only route forward is a ceasefire and the release of all of the hostages immediately. And, as we discussed before, an overwhelming flood of humanitarian aid going into Gaza to protect against more loss of life. JV: And to close, are there any final thoughts that you wanted to share? BK: Only to say thank you for your interest. It is part of what we were just discussing. The whole world needs to convey through their governments, through their elected officials, that there's been enough suffering, there's been enough loss of life, and the way forward is a ceasefire, and that needs to happen now. That won't happen unless elected officials hear from people — interested members of the population — saying enough. So they can then turn around. I think your question earlier about the U.S. government, I think the U.S. government is one of the only governments in the world that has the influence still to say to the government of Israel that we understand your suffering. We understand the need to get your people back, the hostages back, but the route forward is the ceasefire and it needs to happen now. JV: Well, thanks for joining me on the Intercept Briefing. BK: Thank you for having me. JV: That does it for this episode of The Intercept Briefing. We want to hear from you. Share your story with us at 530-POD-CAST. That's 530-763-2278. You can also email us at podcasts at the intercept dot com. This episode was produced by Laura Flynn. Sumi Aggarwal is our executive producer. Ben Muessig is our editor-in-chief. Chelsey B. Coombs is our social and video producer. Fei Liu is our product and design manager. Nara Shin is our copy editor. Will Stanton mixed our show. Legal review by Shawn Musgrave. And transcript by Anya Mehta. Slip Stream provided our theme music. You can support our work at Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Intercept Briefing wherever you listen to podcasts. And tell all of your friends about us, and better yet, leave us a rating or review to help other listeners find us. Until next time, I'm Jonah Valdez. Thanks for listening.
CNBC
31-07-2025
- Health
- CNBC
Hunger in Gaza reaches 'tipping point' under Israel's offensive as children face lifelong impacts of malnutrition
The hunger crisis in Gaza under Israel's assault has reached a "tipping point," experts and advocates tell NBC News, with deaths expected to soar if Palestinians do not get urgent relief. And many children who do survive malnutrition will face lifelong consequences, they warn. The "window to prevent mass death is rapidly closing, and for many it's already too late," said Kiryn Lanning, senior director of emergencies of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a U.S.-based humanitarian organization. The World Health Organization warned that the "health and well-being of an entire future generation" was at stake. Doctors and aid workers inside Gaza, themselves overworked and underfed, have been warning for months about the critical lack of food and the spiraling cost of the little that was available due to Israel's offensive and crippling aid restrictions. They say that their worst fears are coming to pass. "We are now facing a massive health disaster," Dr. Ahed Jabr Khalaf, a pediatrician and intensive care specialist at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, told NBC News' crew on the ground. He said Wednesday that several more children had died from malnutrition that day alone. The warnings came as the world's leading body on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, sounded the alarm that the "worst-case scenario of famine" was now unfolding in the Palestinian enclave under Israel's deadly military offensive and crippling aid restrictions. International outrage has grown as scenes show starvation spreading through the enclave, with dozens dying from malnutrition in recent weeks and people collapsing in the dirt. In the face of this mounting pressure the Israeli military began limited pauses in fighting to allow more supplies in — but aid officials have warned this is still far from enough. It feels like the crisis may have already reached a "tipping point," said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International. "Day after day, there are reports of multiple deaths from starvation," said Konyndyk, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Obama and Biden administrations. "That is new, and that suggests that the population has now reached a point of vulnerability and deprivation," he said in a phone interview Monday before the IPC's report was released. "And when you start to see that in small numbers, that tells you that bigger numbers are coming." "We've seen this in previous famine conditions, where once the numbers, the mortality numbers, start to rise, we have to act quickly and urgently to stem the tide of deaths due to starvation," said Jeanette Bailey, the IRC's Global Practice Lead and Director of Research for Nutrition. "If we don't act now, we will see these numbers increasing exponentially, very quickly." The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Wednesday that 154 people had died from starvation since the war began, including 89 children. In a sign of how the situation has shifted, it is only in the past few weeks that the ministry has released daily updates of that tally. "We know from pretty much every past famine, that the data always takes time to catch up to the reality on the ground," Konyndyk said, noting the particular difficulties in accessing data given Israeli restrictions on access to Gaza. "The situation has reached a critical inflection point," agreed Emily Keats, an assistant scientist in international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. She said that it would only "continue to worsen unless the population is able to safely access food and adequate health services." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Tuesday following the IPC's alert that the situation in Gaza was "difficult" but claimed Hamas had benefited from "attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis." Regardless, several health experts and advocates said children growing up in Gaza now would suffer from the health impacts of the hunger crisis for years to come. "Their little bodies are shutting down," Lanning said. There had been a "spike in the number of children and infants who are being admitted to the hospital for malnutrition," she said. "What we can visibly see in Gaza is child wasting — this is a situation of acute malnutrition that occurs when food is not available, and diseases are rampant," said Keats, whose research focuses on maternal and child undernutrition in humanitarian and development settings. "It's absolutely critical that this famine is addressed now to reduce deaths from wasting," Keats said in an email. Still, she said, "It is likely that some of the long-term consequences are here to stay." "Realistically, children are likely to also be stunted and have micronutrient deficiencies, and many probably have all 3 conditions," said Keats, who studies malnutrition, adding that this would further increase their "risk of adverse outcomes." Wasting — low weight for your height — and stunting — low height for your age — are forms of undernutrition. Malnutrition also covers a range of excesses and imbalances in a person's intake of energy and nutrients, the WHO says on its website. Beckie Ryan, response director in Gaza for CARE, a humanitarian agency working to address global hunger, warned of the long-term impacts on children, especially those under 5. For many, she said, "there is no way that they can recover from this." Malnutrition in young children can have devastating effects on brain health and a child's ability to learn, the World Food Program warns on its website. The first 1,000 days of life up to the age of 2 is considered a time of "unparalleled growth and development," it says. "That's a particularly sensitive period where the long-term risks are also highest," Dr. Marko Kerac, a clinical associate professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who studies malnutrition, said in a phone interview. Kerac emphasized that while a lack of adequate nutrition can be particularly harmful for children under 5, older children, adolescents and even adults can still face long-term impacts from malnutrition — and that there are "lots of factors that affect that long-term risk," including how swiftly patients can be treated. Keats added that the impacts can be felt far into the future, with women who experienced wasting in childhood "more likely to give birth to low birthweight or growth-restricted infants" who are then at greater risk of poor health and mortality. The priority, experts and officials agree, has to be an urgent intervention of adequate care and aid for Palestinians in Gaza. But even then, Keats said, the reality of the hunger crisis "will be felt for generations." CORRECTION (July 31, 2025, 12:08 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly identified where the International Rescue Committee is based. It is the U.S., not the U.K.
