The Gaza Strip remains at high risk of famine as Israel’s war against the enclave persists and access to aid is restricted, although the delivery of limited supplies has slowed the expected spread of the famine. extreme hunger in the north, a global observer has said.
More than 495,000 people in the besieged Palestinian territory face “catastrophic food insecurity,” according to the United Nations hunger monitoring system, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
That’s down from a forecast of 1.1 million in the previous update three months ago, but still represents more than a fifth of Gaza’s population, the IPC said Tuesday.
Households are suffering from an extreme lack of food, leading to acute malnutrition in young children, imminent risk of famine and deaths, the report said.
More than 20 percent of people reported going entire days and nights without eating. Overall, around 96 percent of the population will remain facing high levels of acute food insecurity through September.
The CPI assessment indicates that to buy food, more than half of Palestinian households surveyed had to sell clothes and a third collected and sold waste.
Deliveries of food and nutrition services in March and April appear to have reduced the severity of hunger in northern Gaza, where the IPC previously predicted a likelihood of famine.
However, the Israeli offensive around the southern town of Rafah in early May, as well as other hostilities and population displacements, led to a further deterioration of the situation in recent weeks, he said. added.
“Humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip continues to shrink and the capacity to safely provide assistance to populations is dwindling. The recent trajectory is negative and very unstable,” the report said.
The Famine Review Committee, a group of experts that reviews the IPC’s findings, said in a report also released Tuesday that there was “extreme human suffering” in Gaza and the risk of famine had not abated.
“Eight months of extreme pressure on the lives of the population make them much more vulnerable to famine,” the text states.
