EU official accuses Israel of weaponizing hunger as report warns Gaza famine imminent

Famine is imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, a UN-backed report said on Monday, after more than five months of war, which have shattered the Palestinian territory and cut off supplies.

Malnutrition and food insecurity have probably exceeded famine levels in Gaza's north, and hunger-linked death rates were likely to do so soon, the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said.

The assessment by the UN-backed initiative — a scale used by UN agencies, regional bodies and aid groups — comes amid global pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave of 2.3 million people.

Some 300,000 are cut off by fighting in the north.

The European Union accused Israel on Monday of provoking famine and using starvation as a weapon of war — claims that Israel rejects, saying it does not target civilians and is only interested in eliminating the militant Islamist movement Hamas.

The IPC uses a complex set of technical criteria. Its most extreme warning is Phase 5, which has two levels, catastrophe and famine.

Famine is assessed as at least 20 per cent of the population suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease.

In northern Gaza, "the upward trend in non-trauma mortality is also expected to accelerate, resulting in all famine thresholds likely to be passed imminently," the IPC said.

"The window is shutting, and it is shutting very, very fast," Arif Husain, chief economist of the World Food Programme, told Reuters.

WATCH | UN aid chief says Gaza is racing toward famine:

UN aid chief says Gaza is 'racing towards famine'

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Duration 6:38

WARNING: Video contains graphic images | In a conversation with The National's Adrienne Arsenault, United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths describes the deteriorating situation on the ground in Gaza as deeply shocking and warns the territory could soon face famine.

The study said the number of people projected to experience "catastrophic hunger" across the besieged enclave between now and mid-July had nearly doubled to more than 1.1 million, or about half the population, since the IPC last reported in December, when there was already record hunger.

Under a worst-case scenario, central and southern Gaza also face a risk of famine by July, the IPC said.

"This new report shows that the catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population," Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam's Middle East and North Africa regional director, said in a statement.

"Never before have we seen such rapid deterioration into widespread starvation."

Lack of data complicates assessment

Famine has been declared just twice in the past 13 years: in parts of Somalia in 2011 and in parts of South Sudan in 2017.

Some humanitarians voice frustration with the criteria, since assessing famine thresholds can be particularly difficult in a war zone due to a lack of access and reliable data.

Gaza health authorities have reported children dying of malnutrition or dehydration, but UN officials say the health system has basically collapsed and the situation is hard to monitor.

"It's impossible to find the data to meet their criteria in northern Gaza as people aren't dying in hospital so it's unrecorded," said one aid worker who asked not to be named.

The IPC said that because of a lack of aid, almost all households were skipping meals every day and adults were reducing their meals so children could eat.

In northern Gaza, in nearly two thirds of households, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days, it added. In southern areas, that applied to one-third of the households.

The IPC analysis said famine could still be avoided if Israel and Hamas stop fighting and aid organizations gain increased access.

WATCH | There are signs Israel is preparing to invade Rafah in southern Gaza:

UN warns famine imminent in northern Gaza without aid surge

6 hours ago

Duration 3:06

The UN's food insecurity monitor is warning that famine is imminent in parts of Gaza and could spread if a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas isn't reached immediately to allow for a surge in aid.

Israel has said it plans to assault Rafah, the southern Gaza city bordering Egypt, to root out Hamas fighters, but it is also involved in mediation talks about a possible truce.

Israel declared war on Hamas following an Oct. 7 attack led by the militants that saw some 1,200 people killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The ensuing military campaign by Israeli troops in the Hamas-controlled Gaza has killed more than 31,000 people — including more than 13,000 children and at least 9,000 women, according to UNICEF — and displaced around 80 per cent of the 2.3 million population.

"We must act and we must act now," said Husain. "When famine happens, people have already starved, children are already wasted, and many, many, many lives are already lost."

Israel angered by EU chief accusation

In pointed remarks on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war.

"In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels.

"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine."

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz in a response urged Borrell to "stop attacking Israel and recognize our right to self-defence against Hamas's crimes."

Katz in a post on X said Israel allowed "extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help."

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. military will build a temporary port on Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea, but with hospitals in northern Gaza already reporting children dying of malnutrition, the temporary port plan does not look like an immediate solution for people who are already starving.

White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters have said the plan will take an unspecified number of weeks to execute.