The organisation does not go as far as to formally declare famine in Gaza, but in a new warning, alarm is raised about widespread hunger, malnutrition and diseases leading to an increasing number of deaths related to hunger.
”The latest data indicate that the threshold value for famine has been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City”, writes IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification).
Between April this year and the middle of July, over 20,000 children have received treatment for acute malnutrition. 3,000 of them are severely malnourished, writes IPC.
A formal declaration of famine is rare, and requires reliable information that is not available for Gaza at present. IPC has so far declared famine only a few times, in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of the Darfur region in Sudan last year.
In the organisation's latest analysis in May, a warning was issued that Gaza is likely to be affected by famine if Israel does not lift its blockade and stops its military interventions.
IPC demands immediate action to enable large-scale life-saving humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
