Latest news with #PhaseClassification
Middle East Eye
12-05-2025
- General
- Middle East Eye
Famine imminent in Gaza if Israel doesn't lift blockade, hunger monitor warns
Famine is imminent in Gaza, with half a million people at risk of starvation unless Israel lifts its siege, according to a grim new report released on Monday by a global hunger monitor, marking a major deterioration since its last report in October. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global network of UN agencies and humanitarian groups, reported Monday that 477,000 people in Gaza, or 22 percent of the population, are facing 'catastrophic' hunger from May to September, the highest classification level. Over one million more are at 'emergency' levels, marked by severe food gaps and high acute malnutrition. 'The current level of human suffering, destitution and harm is extreme and requires urgent action from all parties,' the IPC said in its report. The IPC warned that famine is imminent if the current conditions persist. The ongoing Israeli blockade, in place since 2 March, has severely restricted the entry of essential food and medical supplies into Gaza. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The blockade, coupled with over 19 months of intense bombardment, has decimated local food production and infrastructure, leaving residents almost entirely reliant on dwindling external aid. Communal kitchens, which have become the primary source of food for many, are rapidly shutting down due to a lack of supplies. Thousands of Palestinians queue daily, hoping for minimal food rations, often leaving empty-handed. The data was gathered by IPC in Gaza between 1 April 1 and 10 May. The IPC, which rarely declares famines, has done so in Somalia, South Sudan and Darfur in previous years. Engineered starvation In reaction to IPC's report, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that over 116,000 metric tons of food, enough to feed one million people for four months, remain blocked at the border. The WFP said on Monday that it had exhausted its food stocks in April, and all 25 WFP-supported bakeries have closed due to shortages of wheat flour and cooking fuel. 'Death of a generation': Gaza infants battle starvation under deepening Israeli siege Read More » 'Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,' said Cindy McCain, executive director of the WFP. 'If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.' Children are among the most severely affected. Save the Children reported that more than 93 percent of Gaza's children, around 930,000, are at critical risk of famine. Unicef said it has treated 11,000 children for acute malnutrition since the start of 2025, with cases climbing dramatically in March. 'Hunger and acute malnutrition are a daily reality for children across the Gaza Strip,' said Unicef executive director, Catherine Russell. Oxfam also condemned the situation. 'Gaza's starvation is not incidental - it is deliberate, entirely engineered - and has now created the largest population facing starvation anywhere in the world,' said Mahmoud Alsaqqa, Oxfam's food security and livelihoods coordinator. 'It is unconscionable and is being allowed to happen.' He described the total siege as a 'manmade famine unfolding in real time,' with scenes of malnourished children too weak to cry and entire communities surviving without food or clean water. 'In one displacement camp, only five of 500 families had any flour left to make bread,' he added. Weaponised aid The IPC said that an Israeli plan announced on 5 May to facilitate aid delivery was 'highly insufficient to meet the population's essential needs'. Israel is starving Gaza to death, and still the world does nothing Read More » Israel maintains that the blockade is necessary to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining captives and insists on a new aid distribution system under its control. Humanitarian agencies oppose this plan, saying it weaponises assistance. 'Turning aid into a tool of control endangers civilians, erodes the neutrality of humanitarian work, and risks unleashing even greater chaos and suffering across Gaza,' Alsaqqa said. Meanwhile, international leaders have voiced their concerns, including the new pope. Pope Leo XIV, in his inaugural Sunday address, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged the global community to allow humanitarian aid into the strip. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin labelled Israel's blockade as a "war crime" and said it is "wholly unacceptable'.
The Journal
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Entire population of Gaza at 'critical risk' of famine as Israeli aid blockade continues
ISRAEL'S BLOCKADE ON humanitarian aid entering Gaza has put the entire population at 'critical risk of famine', with roughly half a million Gazans facing starvation, a global hunger monitor has warned. The latest report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that Gaza's entire population of around 2.1 million people is at risk of a food crisis 'or worse' by September, adding that there has been a 'major deterioration' since October 2024. 'Nineteen months into the conflict, the Gaza Strip is still confronted with a critical risk of famine,' the IPC report said. Israel's humanitarian aid blockade on Gaza recently entered its third month, amid renewed bombardment and ground offensives across the territory. The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel's aid distribution moves. Border crossings into Gaza have also been closed for over two months – the longest the population has ever faced – causing food prices in markets to spike to astronomical levels, putting what little food is available out of reach for most families. The Palestinian Authority has already declared the strip to be in famine. 'Goods indispensable for people's survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people – one in five – facing starvation,' the IPC report said. The IPC analysis projected that 470,000 people, or 22% of the population, would fall into the catastrophic category by the end of September, with over a million more at 'emergency' levels. 'Urgent action is needed to save lives and avert further starvation, further deaths and a descent into famine. 'Goods indispensable for people's survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people – one in five – facing starvation,' the report said. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation called for the 'immediate' lifting of the Israeli blockade. 'Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,' said the UN World Food Programme's executive director, Cindy McCain. 'It's imperative that the international community acts urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.' Advertisement 'There is nothing' A number of Irish aid organisations have demanded an 'immediate end' to the Israeli aid blockade. Oxfam Ireland CEO Jim Clarken said that the blockade has led to 'unimaginable suffering', with families and children facing starvation and severe malnutrition. 'The international community cannot allow this to continue,' Clarken said. 'Oxfam staff and partners are witnessing scenes that defy belief: families wasting away from hunger, malnourished children too weak to cry, and entire communities surviving without food or clean water. 'In one displacement camp, only five of 500 families had any flour left to make bread. We distributed our last food parcels weeks ago.' Palestinians receive food from a distribution center in Gaza City. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Karol Balfe, ActionAid Ireland CEO described the IPC report findings as 'a stain on humanity's conscience', She added that the high risk of famine comes as 'little surprise amid the Israeli authorities' ongoing and deliberate refusal to allow any food or other life-saving aid into the territory'. 'Our colleagues, partners and the women and girls we work with in Gaza tell us that the food situation is already utterly catastrophic and that even finding one meal a day is increasingly difficult.' Speaking to ActionAid Ireland, a mother living in Gaza said that pantry supplies and tinned foods are running out. 'Community kitchens have stopped operating. It breaks your heart when a child asks for a piece of fruit, and you can't give them something as simple as a banana or an orange,' the mother told ActionAid. Another woman, who is currently nine months pregnant, told ActionAid that her worst nightmare is giving birth while the borders are closed. 'I have malnutrition so during pregnancy I am supposed to eat a lot of things, but unfortunately there is nothing, neither fruit, nor protein, nor milk, nor eggs, nor cheese,' the woman said. 'All of these things affect me, and I am very afraid that this will affect the baby.' Additional reporting by AFP Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
