Israel weaponizes food supply as almost
600,000 people go hungry in Gaza.
Over 570,000 people living in the Gaza Strip are experiencing hunger as an aftermath of the violence Israel has been rolling out in the enclave since it responded to Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7.
The report from the United Nations and other aid agencies published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) indicated how the onslaught and refusal to enter into a ceasefire have been causing “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.” According to the study conducted between Nov. 24 and Dec. 7, on IPC’s five-phase scale for malnutrition, the entire population of Gaza is on Phase 3, with over 90 percent estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity.
The third phase is defined as: “Households either have food consumption gaps that are reflected by high or above-usual acute malnutrition; or are marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis-coping strategies.” Worse, it may even be higher.
“From Dec. 8 to Feb. 7, 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above [Crisis or worse]. This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country. Among these, about 50 percent of the population is in Emergency [IPC Phase 4] and at least one in four households is facing catastrophic conditions [IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe]. These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities,” it said.
The paper concluded that though the levels of acute malnutrition and non-trauma-related mortality might not have yet crossed famine thresholds, “these are typically the outcomes of prolonged and extreme food consumption gaps.” It added that increased nutritional vulnerability of children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly is a particular source of concern at the moment.
The said study was released after Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of committing a war crime by using starvation as a weapon of war against Gaza’s civilian population. As per the HRW, Israeli forces were “deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, while willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to their survival.”
Public data revealed that over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the slaughter carried out by Israel and supported by the United States government. The figure includes over 8,000 children. When Israel’s onslaught first began after the initial Hamas attack on southern Israel in October, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” on the already blockaded enclave and said Israel was fighting “human animals” in Gaza, which is home to over one million younger people. (Related: GENOCIDE by STARVATION: Israel’s bombing operations have exhausted the food supply in Gaza.)
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