The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing every day that hostilities persist or worsen, according to a report released Thursday by a United Nations-backed food security agency.
In its report on the ravaged enclave, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said though acute malnutrition and non-trauma-related mortality have not crossed famine thresholds yet, "these are typically the outcomes of prolonged and extreme food consumption gaps."
“The intensification of the hostilities, further reduction in access to food, basic services, and lifesaving assistance, and the extreme concentration or isolation of people in inadequate shelters or areas without basic services are major factors that contribute to increasing this risk,” IPC reported.
It added that hostilities — including bombardment, military ground operations and the besiegement of Gaza’s entire 2.2 million population — have already caused catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity across the territory.
The report said virtually all households in Gaza are skipping meals, with four in five northern households and about half the displaced households in the south going entire days without eating.
“Many adults go hungry so children can eat,” IPC reported, saying humanitarian access must be restored throughout the region to enable the rapid delivery of life-saving aid.
According to the report, the entire population of Gaza is classified in a state of crisis (IPC Phase 3).
“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,” the report states.
At least 79% of Gaza’s population is classified as being in a state of emergency (IPC Phase 4) or catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), according to the report.
The classification indicates that more than half a million people are experiencing catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions, marked by extreme food shortages, alarming rates of acute malnutrition in children under 5, and a significant rise in mortality rates.