The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip, an alert from a UN-backed food security body says, the BBC reports.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says: “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.”
“Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,” it notes.
The IPC – a global initiative by UN agencies, aid groups and governments to identify famine conditions – said in May that Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million Palestinians was at “critical risk” of famine and faced “extreme levels of food insecurity”.
The alert is not a formal designation of famine in Gaza and the IPC says it will carry out further analysis “without delay.”
Israel rejects accusations of being responsible for food shortages. On Sunday it announced a “local tactical pause” in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, while foreign aid drops have also resumed.
Israel does not allow international news organizations into Gaza to report freely on the situation there.
