Grim Prediction: Deadly Famine Looms over Gaza According to WHO
In the embattled Gaza Strip, a severe hunger crisis is unfolding, with over 100 international aid organizations calling for immediate action to address the growing humanitarian emergency. The crisis is primarily caused by an ongoing Israeli blockade, combined with intensive military operations, leading to widespread hunger, starvation, and a doubling of acute malnutrition among children under five years old.
The Israeli government's new approach to aid distribution under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been largely ineffective and even dangerous. Food distributions have been chaotic and insufficient, with reports of civilians being harmed during aid access and many vulnerable groups unable to receive help due to forced displacement and insecure conditions. A severe fuel shortage caused by the blockade has crippled the operation of humanitarian services, with UN agencies warning that without adequate fuel, essential services like health care, clean water, and aid delivery may cease altogether.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that people in Gaza are facing starvation, with at least 21 children under the age of five having died from malnutrition since the beginning of the year. The WHO also reports a rapid increase in malnutrition in Gaza, while the World Food Programme (WFP) states that a quarter of the population now lives in "hunger-like conditions."
Solutions proposed by international organizations include the immediate lifting of the blockade to allow unrestricted entry of food, fuel, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid to Gaza. They also call for the restoration of safe and equitable access to aid distribution points, the scaling up of nutritional support and treatment programs, ensuring adequate fuel supplies, and an immediate ceasefire to halt ongoing military operations that exacerbate displacement and infrastructure destruction.
Over 90,000 women and children in Gaza urgently need medical treatment, according to the WFP, while thousands protested in Tel Aviv against the Gaza war, displaying photos of children who died from hunger-related causes and carrying sacks of flour to highlight the crisis in Gaza.
Despite the Israeli government's denial of the existence of a "famine" in Gaza, the situation is dire. Six-year-old Adam often wakes up crying from hunger at night, and food on the markets in Gaza is overpriced and scarce, making people dependent on aid deliveries. Mohammed Dschudi has lost about 30 kilograms since the beginning of the Gaza war.
In the past 24 hours, 10 people have died in Gaza due to hunger, according to the health authority controlled by Hamas. Between July 19 and 22, more than 4,400 trucks with aid entered the Gaza Strip, but the UN states that more than 600 are needed per day to meet basic needs. Despite this, tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelters, and fuels are unused due to lack of access for humanitarian organizations.
The Israeli government spokesman has accused Hamas of seizing aid transporters and selling them at exorbitant prices, but the international community is urging all parties to protect civilians and critical infrastructure to avert mass starvation and humanitarian collapse. The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has stated that people in Gaza are facing starvation, and the call for action is growing louder every day.
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