As desperate children resort to eating grass, newborns die from malnutrition and disease, and families go days without eating, a UN-backed IPC report released this week shows that famine is imminent in Gaza. Here, we examine what famine is and what needs to happen to help starving Palestinians.
What is famine and how do we recognise it?
Famine is a widespread, extreme scarcity of food that causes malnutrition and hunger-related deaths. Fast becoming the international standard for identifying famine is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Backed by the United Nations, it is based on standards, evidence, and technical consensus.
The IPC grades the severity and magnitude of food insecurity and malnutrition on a scale beginning at Phase 1, in which most of the population has access to adequate food supplies. At Phase 4, the food shortage has become a humanitarian emergency; and at Phase 5, it has escalated to catastrophe or famine.
The classification of famine is very strict, and applies only when a set of protocols are met, which includes reliable evidence that:
- 1 in 5 households are experiencing an extreme lack of food
- 3 in 10 children are acutely malnourished
- at least 2 in 10,000 people are dying every day due to starvation or malnutrition interacting with disease.
Governments and aid agencies may use the IPC assessment to declare famine, but this is rare and often comes too late. In the last 13 years, famine has only been declared twice and by the time it was announced in Somalia in July 2011, most of the 260,000 people killed had already died.
Is there famine in Gaza?
Famine has not been declared in Gaza, but it has begun. If Israel’s attacks and blockade continue, full blown famine is expected anytime.
For months Islamic Relief’s team in Gaza has reported on families struggling to survive the world’s worst food crisis, and warned that famine was imminent. We and our local partners have worked tirelessly to distribute food wherever possible, providing over 4 million ready to eat meals through operations fraught with difficulty and danger. But soaring needs have dwarfed the meagre amount of aid Israel permits to enter the coastal enclave.
This week’s grim IPC report confirmed the desperate and rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza, pointing out that the entire population faces high levels of acute food insecurity. Worse still, a staggering 1.1 million Palestinians are experiencing ‘catastrophic food insecurity’ – a figure which has nearly doubled since the last IPC report, released in December.
This means that half of Gaza’s population faces an extreme lack of food, even after trying all possible coping methods such as rationing, selling belongings, and moving elsewhere in search of food. People are starving, dying, and destitute; and acute malnutrition rates are critical.
In many parts of northern Gaza, where Israel has repeatedly blocked humanitarian aid missions, the threshold for famine has now been passed. Almost 1 in 3 infants there are now acutely malnourished.
Highlighting the “horrifying levels of hunger and suffering” in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that, “This is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system –anywhere, anytime.”
What must happen to stop the suffering in Gaza?
Famine can be caused by natural disasters, such as prolonged drought, but in Gaza the causes are entirely man-made: the result of Israel’s ongoing attacks and blockade, and the shameful failure of world leaders to act.
Palestinians are not just starving – they are being starved.
For months aid agencies and civilians in Gaza have warned that famine is inevitable without a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access. Yet the violence continues unabated and the amount of aid able to enter the enclave has decreased, even as needs have climbed.
Children and older people are starving as Israel blocks aid, uses hunger as a weapon of war, and attacks civilians as they desperately try to reach food trucks. Deliberately depriving civilians of food and other aid is a violation of international law.
At the same time, some international governments have cut off funding for UNRWA, the biggest UN agency on the ground.
To stop famine growing in momentum, no more time can be wasted. The humanitarian response must massively increase, and the focus must be on opening all land crossings – initiatives such as getting a bit more aid in by sea and air cannot meet the enormous needs in Gaza.
The only way to ensure aid reaches people in need in sufficient quantity is for world leaders to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s blockade.
How can I help?
Islamic Relief has remained by the sides of vulnerable families in Gaza throughout this escalation, doing everything we can to save lives. This Ramadan please support our lifesaving work by donating your zakat and sadaqah.
Humanitarian aid alone cannot end the suffering: only political action can stop famine taking more lives in Gaza. Please stand with ordinary Palestinian families by calling on your political representatives to demand an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel’s siege.
Please help Islamic Relief support people in desperate need in Gaza: Donate to our Palestine Emergency Appeal now.