FAO warns of famine in Gaza

In a statement issued today, Monday, by the Foundation’s press office, he indicated that food insecurity in Gaza is catastrophic and that famine could occur at any time between now and May 2024 in the northern governorates, while it may occur in the rest of the Strip. itself, if hostilities do not cease.

The data indicating this deterioration in the situation in that region, where more than 31,000 people have already been killed as a result of the Tel Aviv bombings, is based on a new report published today by the Global Initiative for Integrated Security Phase Classification. Food Industry (CIF), as the memorandum specifies

This latest report notes that “the entire population of the Gaza Strip faces high levels of acute food insecurity classified as stages 3 (crisis), 4 (emergency), or 5 (disaster) of the International Food and Nutrition Classification.” This includes “half of the population, or about 1.11 million people, who suffer from catastrophic food insecurity (IPC Stage 5),” the document adds.

Compared to the previous analysis, published in December 2023, acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip has worsened and expanded, with “79% of Palestinians falling into catastrophic levels of hunger” in the current period, up to mid-March, and 92% by July.

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol noted that this is “the highest level ever recorded, unlike anything we have seen before,” and stressed that “if measures are not taken to end hostilities and provide greater access for aid… humanity, famine will be imminent.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization has repeatedly called for urgent action to save the people of Gaza, and in November, its Director-General Qu Dongyu called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in order to alleviate civilian suffering and facilitate the delivery of urgent aid.

In March, Qu reiterated the FAO's alarming concerns in a statement at an event organized by the Italian government on the Food for Gaza initiative, when he reiterated that “peace is a prerequisite for food security and the right to food.” “Human right.”

RO/ORT