In northern Gaza, 97% of households have inadequate food consumption and approximately 83% in southern Gaza are "adopting extreme consumption strategies" to survive as the Israel-Hamas war has caused "unimaginable loss, destruction and misery" in the strip, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Thursday
"Everyone in Gaza is hungry," WFP chief Cindy McCain warned on social media platform X, formerly called Twitter. She also reiterated support for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres' appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire.
In a report, the WFP said 9 out of 10 people in northern Gaza are going a full day and night without food consistently. CNN has reported on starving residents in Gaza digging for food, supplies under the rubble.
The report also made the following assessment:
- Fuel for cooking: A quarter of households reported burning waste as their main source of cooking fuel with the rest of households using firewood or wood rubbish.
- Access to drinking water: The minimum average volume of water used for drinking and domestic hygiene should not be less than 15 liters (3.9 gallons) per person per day. On average, interviewed households reported having 1.8 liters (0.4 gallons) of safe drinking water per person per day in northern Gaza and 2 liters (0.5 gallons) of safe drinking water per person per day in southern Gaza
The WFP said it was able to conduct a rapid food security assessment using a remote survey during the truce which ended on December 1. After this period, the situation has deteriorated further.