‘Very sick and very tired’: the reality of famine for Gaza’s most vulnerable

Catastrophic hunger caused by aid blockade is most keenly felt by elderly people, the young and the destitute

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n the overcrowded, rubble strewn streets of Gaza City, there was little surprise at the announcement that UN-backed experts believed the scenes of desperation could now be formally described as a famine.

“This is something we have been saying for months now, and we have witnessed this and we have been living this and suffering this. We feel very powerless and very sick and very tired,” said Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO Network, who has been in Gaza City throughout the 22-month war.

On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a globally recognised organisation that classifies the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, found that three key thresholds for a declaration of famine had been met in the once bustling commercial and administrative hub.