UN declares full-blown famine in Gaza amid Israel’s calls for expanded ground ops

By the end of September, the same classification is expected to extend to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south, affecting more than 500,000 people.

Another 1.07 million Gazans – 54 percent of the population – are under Phase 4 “emergency” conditions, while 396,000 (20 percent) are in Phase 3, or “crisis” conditions.

In its 59-page report, IPC said that there should be “no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed” to unfolding Famine in Gaza.

Israel dismissed the report as “false and biased,” with the military body overseeing aid deliveries into Gaza claiming the IPC had relied on “partial data originating from the Hamas Terrorist Organisation.”

According to the IPC, for a region to be classified as in famine, at least 20 per cent of people must face extreme food shortages, one in three children must be acutely malnourished, and two out of every 10,000 people must die daily from starvation or related disease.

Even if those thresholds are not met, the IPC can still conclude that households are enduring famine conditions, which it defines as “starvation, destitution and death.”

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday that famine in Gaza was the direct result of Israeli government actions and warned that deaths from starvation could amount to a war crime.

The IPC findings follow warnings from Britain, Canada, Australia and several European states that the humanitarian crisis had reached “unimaginable levels” after nearly two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

From the homepage

India warns of ‘likely humanitarian consequences’ after US H-1B visa fee hike

Explained: H-1B visas, Indians, and the immigration discourse in the US

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2023