Famine is occurring in Gaza, the leading global tracker of food insecurity announced on Friday, pointing to “catastrophic” conditions for more than half a million Palestinians — including tens of thousands of children edging toward death via acute malnutrition — largely because of Israeli policies enabled by extensive U.S. support.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is officially applying the famine classification to Gaza for the first time since the nearly two-year Israeli campaign there began, saying famine is confirmed in the governorate, including Gaza City, the region Israeli forces are preparing to target in a new offensive. The IPC, considered the gold standard for tracking hunger, is a consortium that includes 21 United Nations agencies and major nongovernmental aid groups.
“As this famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed,” the 59-page report states. “The time for debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay — even by days — will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality.”
