UN warns famine in Gaza almost inevitable without change

A Palestinian boy among rubble in Maghazi camp. Photo: AFP

The United Nations said on Friday that famine in Gaza was practically inevitable without a change in the Israel-Hamas war.

The UN and other humanitarian organizations have not declared a state of famine in Gaza yet but the spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA), Jens Laerke, warned the situation would be “too late for too many people” once it were declared.

Humanitarian agencies state conditions for the territory’s 2.2 million people were dire.

“We have to look at what more and more voices, more and more loudly, are saying about the food security situation across the Gaza Strip, in particular in the north,” said Laerke.

“If something doesn’t change, a famine is almost inevitable on the current trends.”

Half the total number of victims of famine had died in Somalia in 2011 when the catastrophe was officially declared. Laerke said the near complete shut-down of food imports, the small number of trucks delivering aid and enormous constraints on movement in Gaza all added to the severe risk of famine.

The spokesman of the World Health Organization, Christian Lindmeier, said ten children had already been officially registered as having starved to death.

Israeli forces opened fire on Thursday as civilians rushed for food aid in an incident that the health ministry described as resulting in the death of more than 100 people. The military said thousands of Gazans surrounded a convoy of 38 aid trucks, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries, including some people who were run over.

Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, said on Friday that Egypt was optimistic that talks initiated by Qatar would result in a cessation of hostilities before the beginning of Ramada.

“We are hopeful that we can reach a cessation of hostilities and exchange of hostages. Everyone recognizes that we have a time limit to be successful before the start of Ramadan,” Shoukry said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.