According to the world’s leading monitor on food crises, people in Gaza are currently facing the “worst-case scenario of famine” due to the aid blockade imposed by Israel. The UN’s World Food Programme has warned that the crisis is “unlike anything seen in this century”.

In March this year, Israel imposed a total aid blockade after breaking the ceasefire. Later in May, amid mounting international pressure, it began to allow a small amount of aid into the territory. According to reports, the aid allowed into Gaza is insufficient, and an increasing number of Palestinians are dying because of starvation.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a global initiative led by UN agencies, aid groups and governments aimed at analysing food security worldwide, said that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip”.

In a report released on July 29, the IPC stated that its latest data shows that the “famine thresholds” have been reached in most of the Gaza Strip, and the crisis Palestinians are facing is at “an alarming and deadly turning point”.

According to the report, almost 17 out of every 100 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished in Gaza City, “with at least 16 reported deaths since 17 July”. The report further states that, “Over 20,000 children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished.”

“Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the IPC said, adding that “unimpeded lifesaving humanitarian access” was the only way to stop the increasing number of deaths due to starvation.

After the famine alert was released, the UN’s World Food Programme warned that the crisis unfolding in Gaza was reminiscent of famines seen in the 20th century. “This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century,” WFP Emergency Director Ross Smith told reporters, stressing that “we need urgent action now”.

The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 60,000 since Israel launched its genocidal military offensive in October 2023, with 113 Palestinians having been killed in attacks carried out over the last 24 hours.