A United Nations-backed global hunger monitor has determined that famine is now occurring in Gaza City and its surrounding area.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) had previously warned that Gaza was on the verge of famine, but now says for the first time that the events of the past few months – including a new Israeli offensive, increased displacement and weeks of total Israeli blockade of the territory – have made famine a reality in Gaza.
The IPC experts warn that famine will spread to other areas of Gaza if nothing is done to stop Israel’s war and ramp up humanitarian aid. Let’s take a closer look.
What were the main findings of the report?
The main finding is that famine is no longer a threat to Gaza – it is now a reality. The IPC says that more than 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip now face “catastrophic conditions”, the highest level in its food insecurity classification, “characterised by starvation, destitution and death”.
In the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, the IPC found that 30 percent of the population is facing catastrophic conditions, with 50 percent facing an “emergency”, the level below. Conditions in North Gaza governorate are believed to be “as severe – or worse – than in Gaza Governorate”, but the IPC is unable to classify the area because of limited data.
The IPC also projects that famine will also be present in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September. The IPC already determines that 25 and 20 percent of the population in those governorates respectively, are already classified as being in a level 5 catastrophe.
It also projects that 132,000 children between five and six years of age will suffer from acute malnutrition before June of next year, as well as 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 25,000 infants needing urgent nutrition support.
Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, was not analysed by the IPC because it has been largely depopulated of Palestinians as a result of Israeli military operations.
How did the IPC conclude that a famine has begun in Gaza?
The IPC has a five-stage food insecurity classification, with “catastrophe” the worst. A catastrophe is classified as when “households experience an extreme lack of food and/or cannot meet other basic needs even after full employment of coping strategies”.
In a level 5 catastrophe, “starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition are evident”.
However, a famine classification is separate from this. For a “famine with reasonable evidence” to be declared, as it now has in Gaza, there must be clear evidence that two of three thresholds for acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition and mortality have been reached. The thresholds are that at least 20 percent of households “have a