Famine in Gaza. Cartoon of 01/12/2024 in CTXT
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, warns that hunger in Gaza has already reached "critical levels" and that the arrival of cold weather will further worsen the already dire living conditions of Palestinians.
For months now, hundreds of people, including children and women, have had to queue, or simply huddle, for hours every day just to try to get a meal. Without immediate intervention, severe food shortages will exacerbate the situation, further endangering the lives of people already dependent on humanitarian aid for survival.
Hunger in #Gaza has reached critical levels and people are scavenging weeks-old debris for scraps of food.
- UNRWA.co.uk (@UNRWAes) November 27, 2024
Now, the cold is worsening living conditions and survival is already impossible without immediate humanitarian aid.
https://t.co/5IwYBQeeS1 pic.twitter.com/UpZLejJe1g
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification(IPC ), made up of 15 UN organisations and other agencies that monitor hunger and food security around the world, warned in October and early November of a high probability of imminent famine in areas of the northern Gaza Strip.
The organisation recalls in its report that on 6 October 2024, Israel designated the entire northern Gaza Strip as a combat zone and ordered the evacuation of the entire civilian population.
On 7 October 2024, a UN spokesperson stated that many people in northern Gaza were "trapped" in their homes and unable to flee the combat zone. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also reported that staff members were trapped in Jabalia, stating: "No one is allowed in or out; anyone who tries is shot".Since early October 2024, repeated evacuation orders have been issued for the northern Gaza Strip.
Access to food is also at critical levels and deteriorating rapidly. Between August and September 2024, the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 11%, while the CPI for food soared by 77%.
Comparing the CPI from before the crisis until now, there has been an overall increase of 283%, while the CPI for food has increased by 312%. The price of cooking gas on the black market increased by 2,612%, diesel by 1,315%, firewood by 250% and nappies by 620%. Parallel to the extremely high and rising prices of basic necessities, there has been a total collapse of livelihoods to buy or barter for food and other basic needs. Income and employment opportunities have plummeted.
Attacks on health and nutrition facilities and other civilian infrastructure, including the detention of medical personnel by the IDF, have also continued and accelerated in recent weeks. More civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, and the water, sanitation and hygiene situation is also considered critical, with new threats associated with the onset of winter and expected flooding.
The psychopathic terrorists who make up the IDF make no secret of their intentions, indeed, they proudly record themselves committing all sorts of crimes and misdemeanours. They have no qualms about disseminating images of themselves destroying food, as in this video of smiling Israeli occupation soldiers burning food and water supplies for the population in the eastern Gaza neighbourhood of Shuja'iyya.
A video documents Israeli occupation soldiers burning food and water supplies for the people of Gaza in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/XftcgTCMQk
- Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) December 2, 2024
The NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) suspended operations and left Gaza after another direct Israeli attack in which three of its members were killed. In April, the Israeli army had already killed seven other WCK members.
It has taken more than a year and tens of thousands of people killed for some to surrender to the evidence of this shameful humanitarian disaster that no one seems to want to put an end to. Thus, Amnesty International has already taken the courage to say that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza.
Its 5 December report, entitled "It's as if we were subhuman": Israel's genocide against the Palestinian population of Gaza, documents how Israel has been plunging the Palestinian population of Gaza "into a hell of destruction shamelessly, continuously and with absolute impunity".
