Six months into the Israel-Hamas war, the people of Gaza are on the brink of starvation, with the United Nations saying they are on the brink of starvation.
The crisis in Gaza is entirely man-made and the result of Israel's war with Hamas and near-total siege of the territory, aid experts say. Drought was also an important underlying factor in Sudan and Somalia, where conflict was also at the root of two other disasters classified as famines by global authorities over the past two decades.
Let's take a look at how Gaza got to this point.
Food shortages in the Gaza Strip are caused by Israel's blockade and military operations.
For years before the recent war, Gaza had been under blockade by Israel with Egyptian support. Under the lockdown, humanitarian aid, including food and commercial imports, was severely restricted. Still, levels of malnutrition for Gaza's approximately 2.2 million people were low and comparable to malnutrition in countries in the region.
After October 7, when Hamas led deadly attacks on Israel inciting war, Israel imposed a siege and more tightly controlled entry into Gaza, potentially benefiting Hamas. They blocked the entry of anything that could be considered sexual. At the same time, Israel blocked commercial imports of food that were flooding Gaza's shops and markets.
It also bombed Gaza's ports, restricted fishing, and bombed many farms in the territory. Air strikes and fighting have destroyed Gaza's infrastructure and forced nearly the entire population to flee their homes. This forced displacement, along with the destruction of businesses and soaring prices, has made it difficult for families to feed themselves.
“Food production systems have been completely destroyed and emergency aid was not delivered in a short period of time, resulting in a free fall,” said Jens Rahlke, a spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Office.
The United Nations and aid organizations have a precise definition of hunger.
U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power said this week that hunger is rising in the northern Gaza Strip, where aid is most cut off. Her agency later said that while the assessment was based on data collected in March rather than new information, “the situation remains dire.”
The data was published by the Integrated Food Security Classification, also known as IPC, an initiative of United Nations agencies and major relief agencies. The IPC has not declared famine in Gaza, but last month said famine was imminent in the north. The agency declares famine when at least 20% of households face extreme food insecurity. At least 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished. and if at least two adults or four children per 10,000 people die every day from diseases related to hunger and malnutrition.
By that definition, there have been two famines since the system was created in 2004. In 2011, the IPC declared famine in parts of Somalia that had endured decades of conflict. Years of drought have devastated the agricultural sector and economy, forcing many people to leave their homes in search of food. At the same time, Islamic extremist armed groups prevented starving people from fleeing and forcibly removed Western aid groups. In total, about 250,000 people died.
Six years later, famine was declared in parts of South Sudan. The country had been suffering from drought for years, and the United Nations said the famine was man-made. The civil war has displaced millions and destroyed the country's economy, with rebels and government soldiers blocking aid and hijacking food trucks. Tens of thousands of people died.
Gaza is small and mostly urban, so food should be nearby.
Gaza is only 40 miles long and largely urban, with no shortage of food on the other side of the border with Israel and Egypt.
Still, aid agencies are finding it difficult to carry out their work. The six-month war has left dozens of aid workers killed, including seven from World Central Kitchen, a relief organization founded by chef José Andrés. These employees were killed in an Israeli drone attack on April 1 after delivering a large quantity of food to the warehouse.
In Gaza, there is sharp disagreement between the United Nations and the Israeli government over how much aid flows into Gaza each day, but aid groups say access needs to be improved, especially to northern Gaza. are doing. Israeli authorities have repeatedly refused to allow aid convoys to move into the Gaza Strip.
Arif Hussain, chief economist at the World Food Program, said what made the situation in Gaza so shocking was the scale and severity of the crisis, and the speed with which it developed.
Israel insists it has no limits on aid. Critics disagree.
Critics of Israel's war-fighting methods say the hunger crisis is largely due to Israeli restrictions on where trucks can enter and a cumbersome inspection process. Some have accused Israel of delaying aid to punish Gazans for the October 7 attack.
Israeli officials said there was no limit on the amount of aid that could flow into Gaza. They accuse the United Nations, particularly UNRWA, the main agency supporting the Palestinians, of failing to distribute aid effectively.
COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for coordinating aid shipments to Gaza, said it had seen a “surge” in aid shipments in recent days and was opening additional entry points in northern Gaza. . More broadly, the Israeli government holds Hamas responsible for all civilian suffering in Gaza. (UNRWA announced last month that Israel had denied the group access to northern Gaza, a claim that Israel disputed.)
Governments around the world are calling on Israel to quickly address this crisis. President Biden last week warned that the United States could withhold aid to Israel if it fails to ensure adequate supplies and protection of civilians. Biden said Wednesday that the steps Israel has taken since then are “not enough.”
Adam Serra Contributed to the report.
