Sana'a - Saba:
In light of the ongoing Zionist genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and the Zionist enemy imposing a siege and ethnic cleansing in the northern Gaza Strip since October 5, international and UN organizations and experts have sounded the alarm of an "imminent" famine in the northern Gaza Strip.
In this context, an independent group of experts warned last week that famine may have already begun in northern Gaza, but the war between the Zionist entity and Hamas and the restrictions imposed on the access of humanitarian aid have hindered the collection of data to prove this .
"It is possible, if not likely," the group, known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, said of famine in Gaza.
Concerns about deadly hunger have been growing in recent months, escalating after the director of the World Food Programme said last month that northern Gaza had entered "full-blown famine" after nearly seven months of war.
The report, issued by the Famine Early Warning System Network , is the first technical assessment issued by an international organization that says that famine may have already begun in the northern Gaza Strip .
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, funded by USAID, is an internationally recognized authority on famine, providing evidence-based and timely early warning information on food insecurity. It also helps inform humanitarian response decisions in some of the world’s most food-insecure countries .
The United Nations and international relief agencies have declared for months that food or other humanitarian supplies entering Gaza are insufficient .
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned on Saturday of the possibility of a famine in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing a Zionist siege and ethnic cleansing since October 5, while the Zionist enemy entity rejects the warning of the existence of a famine .
Lazzarini expressed his regret that the possibility of famine "is not surprising," noting that "Israel" has used hunger as a weapon, depriving people in Gaza of basics, including food to survive .
He explained that the aid entering the Gaza Strip is not sufficient, and is an average of just over 30 trucks per day, representing only about six percent of the daily needs of the Palestinians .
Lazzarini called for urgent steps, including political will to increase the flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies into Gaza, and political decisions to allow convoys to enter northern Gaza regularly and without interruption. He called for political will to address and eliminate the hunger crisis because "it is not too late."
On Friday, a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (a team of leading independent international food security and nutrition experts) warned of a strong possibility of imminent famine in areas of northern Gaza, as the Zionist enemy continues to annihilate northern Gaza . It stressed that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is extremely dangerous and rapidly deteriorating, and called for urgent action in the coming days, “not weeks.”
In turn, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on his account on the "X" platform on Saturday: "The warning of global food security experts about the possibility of famine in the northern Gaza Strip is of great concern." He called for "an immediate increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, and providing safe access to it, especially food and medicines to treat severe malnutrition within days, not weeks."
The UN official stressed that "the warning by global food security experts of the possibility of famine in northern Gaza is extremely worrying."
The Zionist enemy authorities rejected the international report, saying: “Researchers continue to rely on partial and biased data and superficial sources with special interests,” according to its description .
The media of the Zionist enemy spoke about the existence of concern in the usurping entity about the imposition of international sanctions on it, including a ban on the supply of weapons, after a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned of the possibility of a famine occurring in the northern Gaza Strip .
In the past weeks, a real crisis has begun to loom in the central and southern Gaza Strip as well, due to the depletion of flour and basic materials in the markets and homes of Palestinians, and their being forced to use spoiled flour to feed their families, and to search for unhealthy alternatives .
The residents of the Gaza Strip, and the north in particular, are suffering from hunger, with a shortage of food, water, medicine and fuel, due to the siege imposed by the Zionist enemy on the two governorates since the start of its ground operation on October 27, 2023, which has caused the death of a number of children and the elderly .
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the relevant official authorities and the relevant international and UN organizations to officially declare famine in the northern Gaza Strip, with more than 40 days having passed since "Israel" prevented the entry of any aid or goods to the hundreds of thousands of residents besieged there, who are being subjected to the most violent campaign of genocide to eliminate them through killing and forced displacement .
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a statement on Sunday: Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including dozens of patients in three hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, are facing imminent danger of starvation, or permanent health consequences, as a result of the illegal Zionist siege .
He pointed out that the Palestinians who are currently facing the worst days of starvation, bombing and displacement have not recovered from the previous waves of starvation that emerged at various points at the end of last year and several times in the previous months .
He called on the international community to assume legal and moral responsibilities to prevent the spread of famine in the Gaza Strip and to take immediate decisions, including calling things by their proper names and officially declaring the famine occurring in the Strip.
The Executive Director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, had stated in a statement that famine is present or imminent in northern Gaza, following a warning by a committee of experts in global food security of the strong possibility of imminent famine in the northern Gaza Strip.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that between 75,000 and 95,000 people remain trapped in northern Gaza, amid growing fears of widespread hunger and malnutrition .
UN data showed a sharp decline in the volume of aid reaching Gaza, as international relief organizations face great difficulties in delivering aid to the northern part of the Strip, accusing the Zionist enemy authorities of obstructing their efforts, at a time when the humanitarian situation has reached "catastrophic levels" that threaten the lives of thousands of civilians.
“There is a strong possibility that famine is occurring or imminent in parts of northern Gaza as a result of the massive displacement, reduced trade and humanitarian flows into Gaza, the destruction of infrastructure and health facilities and the difficult situation related to UNRWA’s work,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP’s Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis. He stressed that the audit committee’s statements “are very rare, so this deserves attention.”
The Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephanie Tremblay, also warned of "the possibility of an imminent famine in northern Gaza if action is not taken within days to save lives, according to a warning just issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee, which issued an alert/report on this matter expressing its concern."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a press conference: Northern Gaza has been under an Israeli siege for about a month, and Palestinians are dying of hunger while the world watches... stressing the "need to stop these crimes."
Two new reports on food security show that in recent months, severe hunger has killed many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, causing lasting damage to children through malnutrition, even before the official declaration of famine .
The Guardian newspaper said: "The war complicates the process of collecting data that would confirm the spread of famine, but the focus is only on whether Gaza has passed the moment when severe hunger turns into an official declaration of famine."
The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization have warned of hot spots of hunger around global food insecurity and human losses caused by hunger, even without an official declaration of famine.
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