A Quarter Of Gaza’s Population One Step Away From Famine: UN Official

Women and children in Palestine and Israel are bearing the brunt of the conflict between Israel and Hamas (Photo: Abed Khaled/AP)

A quarter of the population in conflict-ridden Gaza is one step away from an imminent famine, a senior aid official of a UN body has warned. According to reports available from the United Nations’ aid agencies in Gaza, Ramesh Rajasingham — who is the director of coordination for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — has informed the UN Security Council of the danger awaiting the strip in the days to come.

According to the information given by the senior UN aid official to the Security Council, nearly 5,76,000 people in the Gaza Strip are facing famine and hunger. He also warned that widespread famine could be almost inevitable if proper action is not taken on time.

One in six children under 2 years of age is suffering from acute malnutrition in northern Gaza, he said. The official added that all the 2.3 million people in the Palestinian enclave rely on “woefully inadequate” food aid to survive.

Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, told the 15-member council that it was ready to scale-up and swiftly expand operations if there is a ceasefire agreement.

Skau also informed that the risk of famine was being fueled by the inability to bring critical food supplies into Gaza in sufficient quantities. According to the UN official, the operating conditions faced by the WFP staff on the ground were almost impossible.

Meanwhile, according to UN officials, 75 ton of freight, 10 ambulances, food rations, 300 family tents, etc, had arrived in el-Arish airport in Egypt, near the Rafah crossing to Gaza.

An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, initiating the most significant military escalation in the region since the Yom Kippur War 50 years earlier.

After clearing Hamas militants from its territory, the Israeli military embarked on an extensive aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip followed by a large-scale ground invasion beginning on 27 October. Clashes have also occurred in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and with Hezbollah along the Israel–Lebanon border. The hostilities constitute the fifth war of the Gaza–Israel conflict since 2008, part of the broader Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise offensive against Israel named “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”. The attack began when a barrage of several thousand rockets were fired into Israel, while around 3,000 militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and attacked neighboring Israeli communities and military bases.

During this attack, 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, including 766 civilians and 373 security forces personnel, while 253 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive to the Gaza Strip with the stated goal to force Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. In response, Israel declared a state of war, tightened its blockade and launched “Operation Swords of Iron” with the stated goals of destroying Hamas, controlling Gaza and freeing the hostages.

Analysts suggested that Palestinian frustration at Arab–Israeli normalization despite the ongoing blockade of Gaza and rising settler violence in the West Bank contributed to the attack by Hamas. Hamas said its attack was in response to the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, the alleged “Judaization” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the plight of Palestinian refugees and prisoners.