Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
The spread of famine has been averted in Gaza The world’s leading authority on the food crisis said Friday that the situation remains grave and the entire belt is still facing starvation.
The new report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, comes just months after the group said famine was looming in Gaza City and was likely to spread across the region without an end to the ceasefire and humanitarian aid restrictions.
The report said there were “significant improvements” in food security and nutrition following the ceasefire in October and no famine. Nevertheless, the IPC warned that the situation remains “extremely critical”. Gaza Strip There is a risk of starvation, with approximately 2,000 people facing catastrophic levels of starvation during April.
In a worst-case scenario, involving renewed conflict and interruption of aid, the entire belt is at risk of famine. The needs are enormous and require sustained, expanded and uninterrupted assistance, the IPC said.
The Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, known as COGAT, said on Friday it strongly rejected the findings.
The agency adheres to the ceasefire and allows the agreed amount of aid to reach the Strip, GOGAT said, adding that the aid volume in Gaza “significantly exceeds the nutritional needs of the population” in accordance with accepted international practices, including the United Nations.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday it also rejects the findings, saying the IPC report does not reflect the reality in Gaza and that more aid than is required is reaching the strip.
The government of Israel has rejected the IPC’s previous findings, with the Israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu Calling the previous report a “blatant lie”.
The report’s findings come as the shaky US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has reached a tipping point and Phase 1 is nearing completion, while the remains of a hostage situation are still in Gaza. The more challenging second phase has yet to be implemented and both sides have accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
In August the IPC confirmed for the first time a serious famine situation in the Middle East and warned that it could spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis in the south. The August report said that more than half a million people in Gaza, almost a quarter of its population, faced catastrophic levels of hunger, with many at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes.
Friday’s report said the spread of famine has been offset by a significant reduction in conflict, a proposed peace plan and improved access to humanitarian and commercial food distribution.
There is more food on the ground and people now get two meals a day, up from one meal a day in July. “That situation is clearly one of the most serious situations we were in during the summer,” Antoine Renard, the World Food Program director for the Palestinian territories, told U.N. reporters in a video briefing from Gaza City on Thursday.
Access to food has “improved significantly”, he said, warning that the biggest challenge now is adequate shelter for Palestinians, many of whom are drenched and living in waterlogged tents. Aid groups say about 1.3 million Palestinians need emergency shelter as winter sets in.
Displacement is one of the major factors behind food insecurity, with over 70% of Gaza’s population living in temporary shelters and dependent on aid. The IPC said other factors such as poor sanitation and hygiene as well as limited access to food are also exacerbating the hunger crisis.
The IPC said, although humanitarian access has improved compared to the previous analyzed period, access fluctuates daily and is limited and uneven across the belt.
There is an urgent need for expanded humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel, shelter and health care, to prevent further loss of life, according to the group’s experts, who warned that more than 100,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are likely to suffer from severe malnutrition and require treatment in the next 12 months.
Data recently released by Israel’s military show that it has not met the ceasefire condition of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza each day, although Israel disputes this conclusion. US officials, along with the US-led center coordinating aid shipments to Gaza, also say deliveries have reached agreed levels.
Aid groups say despite the increase in aid, aid is not reaching all those in need after suffering two years of war.
“This is not a debate about truck numbers or calories on paper, it’s about whether people can actually access safe and consistent food, clean water, shelter and health care. Right now, they can’t,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
People They should be able to rebuild their homes, grow food and recover, he said, and the conditions for this are still being denied.
,
Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.