At least 1.1 million people are at imminent risk of suffer famine in the Gaza Strip and close to 210,000 already suffer from this disease in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
That was the main conclusion reached by the Integrated Classification of Food Safety Phases (IPC), a report supported by UN agencies, including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and other international aid groups. After knowing this document, The UN accused Israel on Tuesday of committing a war crime against the population of Gaza by depriving them of food.
“The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a consequence of the enormous restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, the displacement of the majority of the population, as well as the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, regarding the report.
Both using hunger as a method of war, and applying it to an entire population, constitute war crimes.assured a spokesperson for Türk's Office, after specifying that this does not constitute a legal opinion – which corresponds to the courts – but rather evidence that results from what is established by international humanitarian law, according to statements by the official.
The study by the international consortium of food and nutrition experts, in charge of establishing the IPC classification, announced that all the elements had been gathered confirming that general famine will occur in Gaza –where 2.2 million people live poorly– sometime between the publication of the report and next May.
What are the criteria for declaring famine in a population?
With more than two million Palestinians going hungry to varying degrees, this is the highest number of people at risk of falling into poverty. “catastrophic food situation” –which practically nothing separates from famine and which leads to deaths from starvation– recorded by the IPC system since its creation. The CPI classification takes into account three criteria that must be met at the same time for famine to be declared.
The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a consequence of the enormous restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.
“At least 20 percent of households are in extreme food shortage, 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and at least two adults, or four children, per 10,000 people, die daily from hunger or disease.” related to malnutrition,” the IPC reports on its website in relation to the criteria it uses to declare this emergency.
How did Gaza get into this situation?
Gaza has been dragged into this situation after the war that broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7, when militants from that group assaulted Israeli territory and took the lives of 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians.
Since then, The Israeli army launched a ground and air offensive against Hamas in the Strip, which has already left more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, and maintains a siege that restricts the entry of trucks with humanitarian aid.
On what other occasions has famine been declared?
The last two times that the IPC has declared famine in the world were in 2010, when some 490,000 people in Somalia were at catastrophic risk. The other occurred in 2017 in South Sudan, when 80,000 people were designated under this classification after the civil war that devastated the country.
Beyond the classifications and methodologies that are difficult to interpret, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office (OCHA) explained that the data on hunger in Gaza does not describe a possible reality in the future, but rather a situation that is happening right now, at the moment. except in the two northern administrative areas of the Palestinian territory. “All survival mechanisms have been exhausted and, mind you, those mechanisms are people eating bird seeds, animal fodder, grass and weeds. “We are beyond that, there is literally nothing left,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke, who despite having twenty years of experience following one humanitarian crisis after another, could not help but break his voice when describing the situation.
What does it mean when a population is declared in famine and what effects does it have?
In practice, at least 70 percent of Gazans surviving in northern Gaza, or some 210,000, They are already suffering from famine and deaths from starvation will increase there day by day, particularly among children and the sick.
“These are not projections of what will surely happen at the end of May (if food is not supplied to Gazans), but rather the famine is surely occurring in a period that began two days ago,” Laerke said.
A few weeks ago, the first deaths of children due to hunger were reported in the few hospitals that continue to function in Gaza, But it is believed that the official figures are lower than reality because the majority cannot reach medical facilities, due to lack of means of transportation or due to the chaos of the bombings.
High Commissioner Türk addressed Israel's allies, asking them to use their influence to convince the government to facilitate the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid in sufficient quantities and on a continuous basis, the only way to reverse a part of the tragedy.
Is the situation going to get worse?
The situation could worsen if Israel finally launches a ground operation against Rafah, gateway to most aid and shelter for around 1.5 million people.
In a phone call, US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to Washington to discuss “ways to attack Hamas without conducting a vast ground offensive in Rafah.” However, Netanyahu reiterated to his ally his determination to “achieve all war objectives” in Gaza.
For now, the mediators between Israel and Hamas continued their efforts yesterday in Qatar to agree on a truce, something that for now has not been possible. By the way, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, will begin his sixth tour of the country this Wednesday. Middle East to continue trying to design a truce that will bring relief to the Gazans.
During this visit, the State Department announced that Blinken He will travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and Egypt on Thursday to discuss negotiations for an eventual truce in the Gaza Strip and increased humanitarian aid access.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With AFP and Efe
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