On July 9, 2024, no less than 11 experts mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council launched a famine appeal to Gaza.
“We declare that the intentional and targeted famine campaign of Israel against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine in all Gaza. We call on the international community to prioritize the benefit of humanitarian aid by all the necessary means, ending the headquarters of Israel, and establishing a cease-fire by all means.
Among the experts were Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, special rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Territory Come 1967. DEATH OF CHILDREN from Starvation Despite Attempts to Provide Them with Medical Treatment in Central Gaza Left No Room for Equivocom.
Although “famine” is generally understood as an acute lack of nutrition which would lead to the famine and the death of a group of people or an entire population, there is no universally accepted definition of the concept in international law.
However, in 2004, the organization of food and agriculture (FAO) developed the integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC), a quantitative humanitarian scale in five stages to map the food insecurity of a population.
The purpose of this evaluation instrument is to stimulate collective action when food insecurity is identified and to prevent such situations from reaching level 5 on the IPC scale when famine is confirmed and declared. It was used by FAO, the World Food Program (WFP) and their partners as a data -based scientific tool for 20 years.
The quantifiable criteria of the IPC to declare famine are horribly simple: 20% or more households in an area are faced with extreme food shortages with a limited capacity to cope; Acute malnutrition in children exceeds 30%; And the mortality rate exceeds two people per 10,000 per day. When these three benchmarks are affected, “famine” must be declared. Although it does not trigger legal or treated obligations, it is nevertheless an important political signal to oblige international humanitarian action.
If the above -mentioned experts could conclude, in unison and more than a year ago, that famine was present in the besieged Gaza Strip, it is difficult to understand why the entities and executive leaders of the competent United Nations have not yet reached the conclusion that level 5 has been reached by July this year, after more than four months of a medieval seat.
In the era of real -time information transmitted to smartphones worldwide, the reality of the deadly levels of food insecurity is obvious and inadmissible. Emaciated body images recalling those taken in Nazi concentration camps tell the macabre story of reality in Gaza, blocked by the Israeli occupation forces without compromise.
And yet, even in the context of the United Nations Agency for Warnings of Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) issued on July 20 that a million children in Gaza face the risk of famine, the “famine” is not yet declared.
On the surface, the explanation so as not to declare the “famine” to Gaza is that the necessary data used in the IPC diagram is not available. This may well be the case since Israel prevents access to the Gaza Strip to journalists and certain humanitarian workers. IPC analysts therefore have no primary data collection capacities, which they have for the other 30 situations that they monitor. But when physical evidence is clear to see, when reliable data is available, humanitarian considerations should replace technical requirements.
However, in the culture of the United Nations system today pierced by an American administration which has managed against it, political considerations prevail over the sense of duty and professional imperatives. Those at the helm know what is good (or we hope) – and what could be fatal for their character and their career.
The attacks and sanctions of the American government against the government imposed on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan and the Special Rapporteur of the Francesca Albanian are a lively reminder that these jobs are not without risks. In the case of Albanians, his mandate is not even a “work” because she realizes him pro bono, which makes his consistency and his courage all the more exemplary.
Admittedly, the UN executive leaders such as Secretary General Antonio Guterres have more complex calculations to face, the punitive actions by certain powers on the organization they direct to be the principal. As the saying say, “Money speaks” and the United States are the greatest contributor to the United Nations system.
But now that the US Congress has adopted an unprecedented bill to finance the United Nations system, not to do what is right to protect the organizations concerned with the anger of the retailled Washington is no longer an acceptable cop, if ever.
It is important here to remember that the status of the ICC provides that the famine of civilians constitutes a war crime when committed in international armed conflicts. The complete headquarters of Gaza since March 2, which has been entitled to civilians, infants and children above all, is squarely in article 8 of the status, especially since it is the result of a deliberate and declaratory policy refusing humanitarian assistance for months.
In this artificial famine, the Palestinians die of hunger in the middle of the deafening silence of the world, while tons of food will waste on the Egyptian side of the border while waiting for permission to enter Gaza. Israeli troops and foreign mercenaries hired by the Gaza Humaninian Foundation killed more than 900 Palestinians in search of assistance on so -called humanitarian distribution sites. According to WFP, some 90,000 children and women need urgent treatment for malnutrition; 19 people died of famine in one day on July 20, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported. And worse is still to come.
Michael Fakhri, Pedro Arrojo -Agudo and Francesca Albanese said it a year ago – it is high time for the UN to officially declare that the “famine” is in Gaza.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.