677,000+ in starvation[3] 1.1 million in ‘extreme hunger’[4]
The population of the Gaza Strip is facing starvation and famine as a result of Israeli airstrikes during the Israel–Hamas war and an Israeli blockade, including of basic essentials and humanitarian aid.[5][6][7] Airstrikes have destroyed food infrastructure, such as bakeries, mills, and food stores, and there is a widespread scarcity of essential supplies due to the blockade of aid.[c] A survey in May 2024 suggested 85% of children under five in Gaza spent entire days without food.[9] This situation has caused starvation for more than half a million Gazans and is part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Strip. It is the "highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger" recorded on the IPC scale since its inception in 2004,[10][11] and according to experts, may be the most intense man-made famine since the Second World War.[12][13][14]
According to the latest projections, valid from mid-March through July of 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip is classified in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3 - Crisis, or above.[15] 38% of the population is in IPC Phase 4 - Emergency, and 50% is in IPC Phase 5 - Catastrophe, with the risk of famine imminent.[16][17] According to Oxfam, the levels of starvation in Gaza are the "highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population".[3] As of early-March 2024, Gaza met at least two of the three conditions for an IPC-designated famine. Due to the lack of media and humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, particularly the northern region, the IPC Analysis Team was not able to determine whether the final threshold - a crude death rate above 2 per 10,000 per day - had been met.[18][19] As of April 2024, US officials and agencies have confirmed that a famine has begun in the Gaza Strip. The State Department has said that a famine likely began in late March, [20] and USAID Administrator Samantha Power called the assessment that a famine is ongoing "credible" during a congressional hearing on 10 April.[21] A USAID report leaked to Devex on 26 April called famine in Gaza "inevitable" and said in its title that "changes [in Israeli policy] could reduce but not stop widespread civilian deaths."[22]
Although there is evidence that Gazans, particularly in the northern governates of Gaza, are experiencing famine today, global leaders have not yet issued a formal declaration of famine.[23] An updated Famine Review Committee (FRC) report for the IPC from May 2024 regarding April 2024 and projection through July 2024 found that it could not endorse a Phase 5 (Famine) classification under the Famine Early Warning system, but principally due to "the lack of essential up to date data on human well-being in Northern Gaza, and Gaza at large" in the absence of field surveys.[24] In May 2024, the head of the World Food Programme stated there was "full-blown famine" in northern Gaza.[25] In June 2024, the director of humanitarian policy for Save the Children stated that famine-like conditions "may already be present" in southern Gaza.[26]
In March 2024, Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, stated that Israel's restrictions on the entry of aid may constitute starvation as a weapon of war, which would be a war crime.[27][28] An Independent International Commission of Inquiry also found Israel was using starvation as a method of war.[29] In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin.[30]Epidemiological forecasts project future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.[31] The Israeli government has denied it is using starvation as a weapon of war and said that arguments that its actions regarding the famine violate the Genocide Convention are "wholly unfounded".[32]COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for allowing aid into Gaza, has stated Israel was not putting limits into the amount of aid entering Gaza.[33] COGAT's claim has been challenged by multiple entities, including the European Union, United Nations, Oxfam, and United Kingdom.[34] Israel has accused Gaza's government of "aid theft";[35] however, US officials said they do not have evidence to support Israel's claims.[36][37]
^Welsh, Caitlin; Kirschenbaum, Anita; Swanson, Zane (11 April 2024). "Famine in Gaza". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
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