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News / Middle East / Urgent Warning: Impending Famine Threatens Northern Gaza, NGO Reports
Urgent Warning: Impending Famine Threatens Northern Gaza, NGO Reports
Published: 19.03.2024
An NGO has issued a stark warning of an impending famine in northern Gaza, asserting that critical thresholds for mass starvation have already been surpassed. Save the Children, citing data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), revealed that 1.1 million people in Gaza—half of the enclave's population—are grappling with "catastrophic food insecurity."
The IPC estimates that famine could strike anytime between now and May 2024. Xavier Joubert, Country Director for Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory, emphasized the urgent need for action, highlighting the dire consequences for children who are already succumbing to malnutrition in Gaza. Families in the region are resorting to meager sustenance options like wheat, hay, and animal feed.
The UN's recent report indicated that one in three children under two years old in northern Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, a consequence of the Israel-Hamas conflict and aid delivery restrictions.
Northern Gaza, home to approximately 300,000 people, has become increasingly isolated due to ongoing Israeli military operations. Humanitarian organizations have accused Israel of intentionally obstructing aid efforts to Gaza. Delays in aid delivery have exacerbated the crisis, with reports of aid trucks waiting up to 20 days to access the region. Tragically, an Israeli strike on a UNRWA food distribution center on March 13 resulted in casualties.
While Western countries and organizations have ramped up efforts to deliver aid, concerns persist over the effectiveness of air and sea deliveries compared to land routes. Many displaced individuals from northern Gaza are now crowded into makeshift shelters in Rafah, where essential services like food, water, and sanitation are in a state of collapse. Save the Children has called for an immediate ceasefire to avert the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
Joubert underscored that the crisis is a man-made tragedy, emphasizing the moral responsibility of Israeli authorities and the international community to ensure unhindered access to humanitarian aid and to prevent further suffering and loss of life among Gaza's vulnerable population.
The IPC estimates that famine could strike anytime between now and May 2024. Xavier Joubert, Country Director for Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory, emphasized the urgent need for action, highlighting the dire consequences for children who are already succumbing to malnutrition in Gaza. Families in the region are resorting to meager sustenance options like wheat, hay, and animal feed.
The UN's recent report indicated that one in three children under two years old in northern Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, a consequence of the Israel-Hamas conflict and aid delivery restrictions.
Northern Gaza, home to approximately 300,000 people, has become increasingly isolated due to ongoing Israeli military operations. Humanitarian organizations have accused Israel of intentionally obstructing aid efforts to Gaza. Delays in aid delivery have exacerbated the crisis, with reports of aid trucks waiting up to 20 days to access the region. Tragically, an Israeli strike on a UNRWA food distribution center on March 13 resulted in casualties.
While Western countries and organizations have ramped up efforts to deliver aid, concerns persist over the effectiveness of air and sea deliveries compared to land routes. Many displaced individuals from northern Gaza are now crowded into makeshift shelters in Rafah, where essential services like food, water, and sanitation are in a state of collapse. Save the Children has called for an immediate ceasefire to avert the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
Joubert underscored that the crisis is a man-made tragedy, emphasizing the moral responsibility of Israeli authorities and the international community to ensure unhindered access to humanitarian aid and to prevent further suffering and loss of life among Gaza's vulnerable population.
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