GAZA: A global hunger monitor has warned of a high risk of famine in Gaza as relentless bombardment by Israel continues to restrict aid deliveries in the besieged Palestinian territory.
According to an update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said that more than 495,000 people across the war-hit Gaza Strip are facing the most severe, or catastrophic, level of food insecurity.
It said still more than one-fifth of Gaza’s population is on the verge of famine. Households suffer an acute shortage of food, under catastrophic food insecurity, leading to malnutrition in young children, an imminent risk of starvation, and deaths.
The IPC assessment has said that more than half of the households in Gaza surveyed had to sell clothes and one-third gathered and sold rubbish to buy food.
Over 20 percent reported going whole days and nights without eating. Overall, about 96 percent of the population of Gaza faced high levels of severe food insecurity in the period until September.
The UN-backed monitor said aid deliveries of nutrition and food services in March and April seemed to have reduced the severity of hunger in Gaza’s north.
However, Israel’s offensive in Rafah from early May and other hostilities and displacement have led to a renewed deterioration in recent weeks.
The update said the humanitarian space in Gaza continues to reduce and the ability to safely deliver aid to populations is dwindling. It said the recent trajectory is highly unstable and negative.
According to the findings by the Famine Review Committee in a report said that there was extreme human suffering in Gaza and the risk of famine had not diminished.
It added months of extreme pressure on the lives of the population making them much more vulnerable to famine.
According to the Gaza health ministry, Israel’s bombardment in the besieged territory has killed at least 37,658 Palestinians, mostly women, children and infants. It says the war has also injured 86,237, with 10,000+ believed to be buried under the debris of bombed houses and 9,500 abducted by Tel Aviv.
