Gaza remains on famine alert after food security experts warned today (25 Jun) that more than 1 in 5 households “go entire days without eating.”

Launching the latest UN-partnered Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on hunger levels, Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, “A high and sustained risk of famine persists - so, that's very important to underline - across the whole Gaza Strip, as long as conflict continues, and humanitarian access is restricted. Even with the upgradability of the ongoing conflict and the humanitarian access challenges, any significant change may lead to very rapid deterioration into famine.”

Torero said, “While the whole territory is classified in emergency (this means that IPC phase 4) latest IPC findings show that around 495,000 people are still facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (this is IPC 5) through September 2024. This represents 22 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip or 1 in 5 Gazans. Another 745,000 people, 33 percent, face emergency conditions (IPC 4).”

According to the latest UN-partnered IPC report on hunger levels, 96 percent of the population – some 2.15 million people – face acute food insecurity at a “crisis” level or higher.

Included in this number are almost half a million people enduring “catastrophic” conditions (IPC level 5), the IPC update noted.

FAO Chief Economist said, “The latest data show that on a regular basis more than half of the population, more than half of the population does not have any food to eat in the house, and over 20 percent goes the entire day and night without eating.”

At the same time, the update pointed to “a slight improvement” in the food security situation in Gaza’s northern governorates, where potential famine was feared by the end of May.

According to the World Food Program (WFP), the improvement shows the difference that greater access can make.

Increased food deliveries to the north and nutrition services have helped to reduce the very worst levels of hunger, leaving a still desperate situation.

Also presenting the IPC report today, Arif Husain, WFP Chief Economist underscored the high risk of famine across the whole Gaza Strip.

He said, “As long as there is a continuation of hostilities, as long as there are restrictions on access, the risk of famine on the entire Gaza Strip remains real and remains highly significant.”

Husain concluded, "To have an effective response, “3 things are a must: number one we should have enough commodities - whether commercial or whether humanitarian – coming into the Gaza Strip; Number two, people who are bringing this stuff must be safe; And number three, people who are receiving these things need to be safe. And if we can make sure that those three things, which I don't know how you can do without the ceasefire, then we can improve the situation.”

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