LONDON: More than 495,000 people in the Gaza Strip, or a fifth of the enclave’s population, are currently facing catastrophic acute food insecurity, characterized by extreme food shortages, hunger and exhaustion, a forthcoming UN report says.
The latest “special snapshot” of Gaza from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification will be released on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.
The UN report will also reveal that more than half of households in Gaza have had to sell or barter clothes to buy food, as the entire territory remains at high risk of famine following recent violence.
Israeli authorities strictly control access to the Gaza Strip and all movement is only possible with military permission. Debris has destroyed the roads, fuel is scarce and electricity and communication networks are barely functioning.
At the beginning of the war, Israel imposed a complete siege on the Gaza Strip, which was only gradually relaxed under pressure from the United States. The war has severely limited Gaza’s ability to produce its own food.
The IPC found that food supplies and nutritional services to northern Gaza increased significantly in March and April, preventing famine and improving conditions in the south of the territory. However, the situation has deteriorated again following renewed hostilities and as long as the conflict continues and humanitarian access is restricted, the risk of famine in Gaza remains, a draft report seen by the Guardian said.
More than half of households said they frequently run out of food at home, and more than 20 percent have to go whole days and nights without eating, The Guardian reported. The latest trend is negative and highly unstable. If this trend continues, the improvements seen in April could quickly be undone.
UN agencies and aid organizations report difficulties in reaching the Kerem Shalom border crossing due to ongoing fighting, Israeli restrictions, coordination problems with the army and the breakdown of law and order.
Although the IPC has not officially declared a famine – which requires strict conditions – the situation in Gaza is catastrophic. Hunger level 5, which affects 22 percent of Gaza’s population, is comparable to famine conditions.
For a famine to be officially declared, 20 percent of households must suffer from extreme food shortages, 30 percent of children must be acutely malnourished, and at least two adults or four children per 10,000 inhabitants must die every day.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said Israel’s restriction of humanitarian aid to Gaza could constitute a war crime of deliberate starvation. The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations have warned that more than a million people could be dead or starving by mid-July.
A joint statement by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said: “The crisis in Gaza has reached a new turning point… The delivery of any meaningful humanitarian assistance inside Gaza has become almost impossible and the fabric of civil society is disintegrating.”
Ahead of the release of the IPC report on Gaza, Kate Phillips-Barrasso, vice president of global policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps, said: “People are enduring inhumane conditions and resorting to desperate measures such as boiling weeds, eating animal feed and trading clothes for money to escape starvation and keep their children alive.
“The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly and fears of famine continue to hang over Gaza… Humanitarian assistance is limited… The international community must exert relentless pressure to achieve a ceasefire and ensure permanent humanitarian access now. The population cannot endure these hardships any longer.”