500,000 people in "catastrophic" condition: UN declares famine in Gaza, a first in the Middle East

The famine in Gaza "could have been avoided" without "Israel's systematic obstruction," the head of UN humanitarian operations, Tom Fletcher, accused in Geneva. "This famine will and must haunt us all," he insisted gravely.

Israel rejected the biased statement "based on Hamas lies" and claimed that "there is no famine in Gaza."

After months of warnings of famine in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, the Rome-based UN Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has finally confirmed that a famine is underway in Gaza Governorate (Gaza City and surrounding areas), and is expected to spread to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis Governorates by the end of September.

Conditions "just as bad, or even worse" in the North

According to the United Nations, approximately one million people currently live in Gaza Governorate, as well as half a million in Deir el-Balah Governorate and another half a million in Khan Younis Governorate.

The Gaza governorate represents approximately 20% of the Gaza Strip in terms of area. If we add Khan Yunis (29.5%) and Deir el-Balah (16%), we arrive at 65.5%, or approximately two-thirds of the total area of ​​the Gaza Strip, a poor territory of 365 km2 where more than two million Palestinians are crammed.

The UN assesses conditions in northern Gaza as "as severe, or even worse," than in Gaza Governorate, but limited access to data in that area prevents the IPC from issuing an assessment.

According to UN experts, more than half a million people in Gaza are facing "catastrophic" conditions, the highest level of food distress in the IPC, characterized by famine and death.

This figure, based on information collected up to August 15, is expected to rise to almost 641,000 by the end of September.

"A war crime"

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is "accelerating at a catastrophic rate," the UN said. "In July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as suffering from acute malnutrition, the highest monthly figure ever recorded."

UN human rights chief Volker Türk has said that "starving people for military purposes is a war crime."

"We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and full and unhindered humanitarian access," he added.

According to the IPC, this is the most serious deterioration of the situation since it began analyzing the situation in the Gaza Strip.

For this organization, a famine is underway when three elements are combined: at least 20% of households (one in five) are facing an extreme lack of food, at least 30% of children under five (one in three) are suffering from acute malnutrition, and at least two people in 10,000 die of hunger every day .

Result of the escalation of the conflict

Faced with Israel's accusations, the head of the UN World Food Programme for food security, Jean-Martin Bauer, replied that "the IPC is the absolute reference for analyses on food security throughout the world."

The current situation in Gaza is the result of the escalation of the conflict in recent months, which has led to massive population displacements associated with restricted access to food supplies caused by Israel.

At the beginning of March, Israel completely banned the entry of aid into Gaza, before authorizing the delivery of very limited quantities at the end of May, leading to serious shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Israel, which controls all access to Gaza, accuses Hamas of looting aid, which the Palestinian Islamist movement denies, and humanitarian organizations of not distributing it. But the latter have claimed that Israel is imposing excessive restrictions and deemed it very dangerous to distribute aid in the midst of a war.