Gaza: The United Nations World Food Programme warned that the hunger crisis in Gaza has reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation” as almost a third of its population is going days without eating, The Associated Press reported.
The WFP also informed that around 1,00,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
For months, UN officials, aid groups and experts have warned that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are on the brink of famine without formally declaring one. Even though Israel eased a 2 1/2-month blockade on the territory in May, aid groups say only a trickle of assistance is getting into the enclave and that Palestinians face catastrophic levels of hunger 21 months into the Israeli offensive launched after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
Hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces as they try to reach aid sites or convoys, according to witnesses, health officials and the United Nations' human rights office, though the Israeli military claims it has only fired warning shots.
Despite the mounting desperation, there has been no formal declaration of famine.
Gaza’s population of roughly 2 million Palestinians relies almost entirely on outside aid. Israel's offensive has wiped out what was already limited local food production.
Israel's blockade, along with ongoing fighting and chaos inside the territory, has further limited people's access to food.
According to the Associated Press, the United Nations warned that the hunger crisis is at astonishingly new levels of desperation. Yet famine is not declared in the war-torn enclave is because to make such a declaration certain thresholds need to be met, such as a certain percentage of households need to be facing extreme food insecurity, a percentage of children needs to be facing malnutrition or wasting and a percentage of people need to be dying daily from starvation or malnutrition mixed with disease. The war in Gaza has made access to the land and collecting data and information on the population incredibly hard. Health officials also say that it's hard to say that someone died from hunger, and there is no formal way to say someone died from starvation instead of disease. Aid agencies and Palestinians say the situation is absolutely dire, as there is nothing to eat.