Starvation already causing many deaths and lasting harm in Gaza, agencies say

Months of extreme hunger have already killed many Palestinians in Gaza and caused permanent damage to children through malnutrition, two new food security reports have found, even before famine is officially declared.

The US-based famine early warning system network (Fews Net) said it was “possible, if not likely” that famine began in northern Gaza in April. Two UN organisations said more than 1 million people were “expected to face death and starvation” by mid-July.

War complicates the collection of data that would confirm famine has taken hold. But focusing only on whether Gaza had passed the moment when extreme hunger tips into an official declaration of famine risked obscuring the extremely high toll that food shortages had taken on Palestinians already, both organisations said.

“Regardless of whether or not the famine (IPC phase 5) thresholds have been definitively reached or exceeded, people are dying of hunger-related causes across Gaza,” the Fews Net report found. “Acute malnutrition among children is extremely high and this will result in irreversible physiological impacts.

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