ROME – More than one in four households in Gaza currently face extreme hunger, and there is a risk of famine unless access to adequate food, clean water, health and sanitation services is restored, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.
This latest food security analysis for Gaza, which includes data from the World Food Programme (WFP), other UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, confirmed that the entire population of Gaza – roughly 2.2 million people – are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity. The IPC report further highlighted that 26 percent of Gazans (576,600 people) have exhausted their food supplies and coping capacities and face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation.
“WFP has warned of this coming catastrophe for weeks. Tragically, without the safe, consistent access we have been calling for, the situation is desperate, and no one in Gaza is safe from starvation.” said WFP’s Executive Director Cindy McCain.
According to the IPC, there is a risk of famine occurring within the next six months if the current situation of intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access persists. From earlier assessments, WFP food security experts had already established that Gazans have used up all their resources, livelihoods have collapsed, bakeries are destroyed, shops are empty, and families can’t find food. People told WFP staff that they often go entire days without eating and that many adults go hungry so that children can eat.
“We cannot stand by and watch people starve. Humanitarian access is needed now for supplies to flow into and throughout Gaza and for civilians to safely receive life-saving aid,” said McCain. “More than anything, what is needed now is peace. WFP reiterates the call for a humanitarian ceasefire – the world must come together now to save lives.”
