Gaza Strip famine

As a result of Israeli airstrikes during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war and the imposition of a tightened blockade on the ingress of basic essentials into the Gaza Strip by Israel during that war, including restrictions on humanitarian aid, the population of the Gaza strip is facing starvation and famine.^[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] This 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,^[9][10] and according to experts,^[vague] may become the most intense man-made famine since the Second World War.^[11][12][13]

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.^[14] 38% of the population is in IPC Phase 4 - Emergency, and 50% is in IPC Phase 5 - Catastrophe, with the risk of famine imminent.^[15][16] 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, but it projects that it will be met between mid-March and May 2024.^[17][18] 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, ^[19] and USAID Administrator Samantha Power called the assessment that a famine is ongoing "credible" during a congressional hearing on 10 April.^[20] 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."^[21]

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. The IPC itself does not issue declarations of famine. The Center for Strategic and International Studies says that "Famine declarations convey significant political and emotional weight and the expectation of action from the international community," and that "leaders may be waiting for a future IPC assessment, presumably concluding that famine conditions have been in place for a period of time, before making an official declaration of famine."^[22] In May 2024, the head of the World Food Programme stated there was "full-blown famine" in northern Gaza.^[23]

On 19 March, 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.^[24][25] 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.^[26] Epidemiological forecasts project future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.^[27]

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".^[28] COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for allowing aid into Gaza, has stated Israel was not putting limits into the amount of aid entering Gaza.^[29] COGAT's claim has been challenged by multiple entities, including the European Union, United Nations, Oxfam, and United Kingdom.^[30] Israel has accused Gaza's government of "aid theft";^[31] however, US officials said they do not have evidence to support Israel's claims.^[32][33]

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