North of One Million Gazans Are Facing Starvation Conditions
Jose Nino
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Over a million people in the Gaza Strip, close to half of the region’s population, are going through famine-like conditions, per new projections by experts who discovered evidence of widespread starvation and a notable increase in child mortality in Gaza.
The number of individuals facing dangerous levels of hunger in Gaza has increased twofold since December. The northern part of Gaza already features several characteristics of what experts deem as a famine. The most notable of these organizations that argue that Gaza is experiencing a famine is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, a program that gathers experts from the United Nations, relief agencies, and research organizations. The IPC report asserted that the famine in north Gaza is currently imminent and estimated to take place between now and the end of May.
The IPC’s main role is to analyze famine conditions worldwide. Several factors have to be met for the IPC to declare that a region is experiencing an actual famine. For example, an alarming lack of food, high levels of sharp malnutrition, and alarming levels of child deaths are key factors in determining if a region is going through a famine.
Both in terms of total and per capita figures, Gaza is currently experiencing the sharpest hunger crisis across the globe, per the IPC. Experts In northern Gaza estimate that roughly 30% of children below the age of two are sharply malnourished, per the IPC report. Prior to the October 7, 2023 attack carried out by Palestinian militant organization Hamas, 0.8% before the war.
Ever since Israel kicked off its punitive military campaign in Gaza against Hamas, Israeli authorities have restricted the quantities of food and basic items that can be brought to the Gaza Strip.
Nearly all goods go through two crossings in southern Gaza. That said, only a small segment has made its way to the northern part of Gaza.
Israeli restrictions in addition to a breakdown in public order and high-intensity military fighting have prevented food convoys from traveling to northern Gaza. This part of Gaza is home to roughly 300,000 people. Most of the population in Gaza has gone to the south at the outset of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Hamas allegedly killed 1,200 individuals during its October 7 attack against Israel, while Israel’s military response has led to the deaths of 31,000 Palestinians, largely women and children, per Palestinian health authorities.
What’s happening in Gaza is tragic. However, the US should not be involved in this conflict altogether. It needs to end the deployment of military aid to Israel, while also disengaging as a mediator for Israel and Palestine.
Simply put, the US has created a mess in the Middle East and the best course of action for it to take here is to leave the region altogether.
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