GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold on Tuesday evening a briefing under the “Protection of civilians in armed conflict” agenda item to discuss the risk of famine in northern Gaza.
Guyana and Switzerland, the Council’s co-focal points on conflict and hunger, joined by Algeria and Slovenia, requested the meeting after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) issued an alert on 8 November saying that there is “a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.”
Since 5 October, Israel has been carrying out a military offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip, progressively putting under siege the Jabalia refugee camp and nearby areas.
Senior UN officials and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned about the devastating impact of Israel’s offensive on the Palestinian population.
In a 25 October statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that, in the north of Gaza, the Israeli military is “subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation.”
