GENEVA : According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading hunger monitor, Gaza’s food emergency has reached critical levels. Despite Israel easing restrictions in late July to allow limited aid, relief groups say the amounts are “too small and too chaotic” to prevent more people from slipping into malnutrition.
Figures released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, verified by the World Health Organization, reveal a sharp rise in deaths linked to hunger. Since October 2023, 89 people — mostly children — have died of malnutrition. In the first 20 days of August alone, 133 deaths were recorded, including 25 children.
“We are witnessing the worst humanitarian disaster ever measured,” said Janet Bailey, nutrition director of the International Rescue Committee. “Many more children will die, and many more pregnant and breastfeeding women will suffer from malnutrition.”
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Hospitals in Gaza, already crippled by shortages, are struggling to treat severely malnourished children as supplies of specialized milk run out. UNICEF confirmed that recent aid included some infant formula, but enough only for 2,500 children for a month, while at least 10,000 are in urgent need.
Antoine Renard, WFP Country Director in Palestine, warned: “Without the continued entry of fortified foods, we are seeing a preventable crisis escalate into a full-scale food emergency.”
Meanwhile, the UN reports that more than 796,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced since March due to intensified Israeli assaults. Nearly 17,000 new displacements were recorded in mid-August alone, mostly in Gaza City, where Israeli forces continue operations including shelling and house demolitions.
The conflict has already left more than 62,000 dead, over 157,000 injured, and thousands missing, alongside widespread famine and forced displacement. Human rights groups have accused Israel of using food as a weapon of war, a charge it denies.
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