A report released by the press office of this international body reports on the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, based on the results of the latest analysis of the Integrated Food Security Classification in Phases (ICF).
The note further warns that widespread starvation, destitution and preventable food deaths due to Israeli aggression, already affecting the governorate of Gaza, could soon spread to those of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
In the communiqué, issued jointly with the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), FAO reiterates its call for a ceasefire, and for Israel to enable humanitarian access to stop deaths from hunger and malnutrition.
The signatory institutions also express their deep concern “by the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City and any escalation of the conflict, as it would have even more devastating consequences for the civilian population, where famine conditions already exist.
The text specifies that classifying famine “means that the most extreme category is activated when three critical thresholds are exceeded: extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and deaths from starvation”, and emphasizes that the latest analysis confirms, based on reasonable evidence, that these criteria are already met.
After almost two years of conflict, “continued displacement, restrictions on humanitarian access, constant interruptions and hindrance to access to food, water, medical aid, support for agriculture, livestock and fisheries, with collapse of health systems, sanitation and market, plunged the population into famine”.
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