Famine is 'playing out' in Gaza, warns global hunger monitor

The latest data indicated that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the war-torn Palestinian enclave, where some 2.1 million people remain, and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City, the alert said. Picture: Getty

Famine is "playing out" in the Gaza Strip, a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday as international criticism of Israel intensifies over rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave.

"The worst-case scenario of Famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. 

Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.

The IPC alert does not formally classify Gaza as being in famine. Such a classification can only be made through an analysis, which the IPC said it would now conduct "without delay."

The IPC is a global initiative that partners with 21 aid groups, international organizations, and UN agencies, and assesses the extent of hunger suffered by a population.

War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas for the past 22 months. 

Facing global condemnation over the humanitarian crisis, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of the Palestinian enclave and allow new aid corridors.

For an area to be classified as in famine, at least 20% of people must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.

"Immediate action must be taken to end the hostilities and allow unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response. This is the only path to stopping further deaths and catastrophic human suffering," the IPC alert said.

The latest data indicated that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the war-torn Palestinian enclave, where some 2.1 million people remain, and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City, the alert said.

"Formal famine declarations always lag reality," David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee aid group, said in a statement ahead of the IPC alert.

"By the time that famine was declared in Somalia in 2011, 250,000 people — half of them children under 5 — had already died of hunger. By the time famine is declared, it will already be too late," he said.

The last IPC analysis on Gaza, issued on May 12, forecast that the entire population would likely experience high levels of acute food insecurity by the end of September, with 469,500 people projected to likely hit "catastrophic" levels.

"Many of the risk factors identified in that report have continued to deteriorate," the Famine Review Committee said in the alert on Tuesday. 

"Although the extreme lack of humanitarian access hinders comprehensive data collection, it is clear from available evidence that starvation, malnutrition, and mortality are rapidly accelerating."