OCCUPIED JERUSALEM(Palestine Foundation Information Center)The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that people in Gaza are selling their belongings for food. At the same time, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that more than 80 percent of Gazan children “suffer from severe food poverty.”
WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said in a post on his X account that “hunger is present and famine is looming in Gaza.”
“People are facing starvation and selling their possessions in exchange for food. Parents are going hungry so their children can eat. This is catastrophic to the health of people across the Strip,” Ghebreyesus affirmed.
“Four out of five households in northern Gaza and half of the displaced households in the south are going entire days and nights without eating. This is heartbreaking,” the WHO chief said.
“This protracted conflict is blocking much-needed access to food and other life-saving humanitarian aid. Displaced people are crowding in shelters amid harsh winter conditions, which will inevitably increase the spread of disease. Children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and older people are at greatest risk,” he added.
For its part, UNICEF warned on Friday that acute food insecurity puts all children under five in the Gaza Strip (335,000 kids) at high risk of severe malnutrition and preventable death.
“Yesterday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned the world of the very high risk of famine in the Gaza Strip, increasing every day if the situation persists. Specifically, the IPC report said at least one in four households in the Gaza Strip, or more than half a million people, are facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, the highest level of warning,” UNICEF said in a statement.
“These entirely manmade, foreseeable, and preventable catastrophic conditions mean that children and families in the Gaza Strip are now facing violence from the air, and deprivation from the ground — with potentially the worst yet to come,” UNICEF added.
“The report also said that almost 1.2 million people are experiencing emergency levels of acute food insecurity and acknowledged that famine thresholds for acute food insecurity have already been exceeded. In short, this means for many families in Gaza, the threat of dying from hunger is already real.”
“These findings imply that all children under five in the Gaza Strip —335,000— are at high risk of severe malnutrition and preventable death as the risk of famine conditions continues to increase. UNICEF estimates that in the coming weeks, at least 10,000 children under five years will suffer the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, known as severe wasting, and will need therapeutic foods.”
“This unacceptable risk comes at a time when the Gaza Strip’s food and health systems are facing complete collapse. More than 80 percent of young children are experiencing severe food poverty, and more than two-thirds of hospitals are no longer functioning because of the lack of fuel, water, and vital medical supplies or because they sustained catastrophic damage in attacks.”
UNICEF, particularly, expressed its concern about the nutrition of over 155,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as for over 135,000 children under two, given their specific nutrition needs, which are compounded by stress and trauma.
UNICEF said, however, that based on the IPC report, these conditions do not have to persist. “Yesterday’s warning of famine in the coming weeks and months can still be averted. But we must act now.”
“We need an immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire so that humanitarian actors can support the strengthening and restoring of essential services across the Gaza Strip, allowing vulnerable children to meet their basic nutrition and health needs. These include the provision of infant milk, food and nutrient supplements, and ready-to-use therapeutic foods for the early prevention, detection and treatment of severe malnutrition, as well as water, medical supplies and fuel, and resumption of commercial traffic.”
UNICEF concluded its statement by calling for necessarily restoring “critical infrastructure, including hospitals, so young children, pregnant women and injured patients can safely access life-saving treatment and care.”
