Gaza Strip famine
Before the 2023 war[edit]
It has been argued that "thoroughly planned impoverishment" has been a long-term policy of Israel for the Gaza Strip. According to Sara Roy, a leading expert on the Gazan economy,
The current desecration of Gaza is the latest stage in a process that has taken increasingly violent forms over time. In the fifty-six years since it occupied the Strip in 1967, Israel has transformed Gaza from a territory politically and economically integrated with Israel and the West Bank into an isolated enclave, from a functional economy to a dysfunctional one, from a productive society to an impoverished one. It has likewise removed Gaza's residents from the sphere of politics, transforming them from a people with a nationalist claim to a population whose majority requires some form of humanitarian aid to sustain themselves.
In the early 2000s, the Gaza Strip witnessed a period of increasing tensions that had a profound impact on its economic and agricultural sectors. During this time, a relatively small number of Israeli settlers lived in the Gaza Strip, yet they controlled a significant portion of the territory's valuable resources. Specifically, these settlers had access to about 25% of the Strip, an area that included 40% of Gaza's arable land, as well as a substantial share of its water resources, limiting the availability of land and water for the Palestinian population. In addition, during that period Israel had imposed restrictions on imports of cooking fuel and gas into Gaza. The restrictions on imports, including cooking fuel and gas into Gaza by Israel, also stem from the application of restrictions based on what Israel defines as 'dual use' goods, items that might be put to military uses threatening Israel's security. These measures, part of a broader blockade, are contested internationally and criticized for exacerbating economic and living conditions in Gaza.
After Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinian elections were held in 2006, which Hamas won. In response to the election results, Israel designated the governing party and the Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity," implementing a blockade along with economic sanctions and restrictions. Dov Weissglas explained, "We have to make them much thinner, but not enough to die," the idea being "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Prior to the blockade, Gaza's population stood at 1.6 million, serviced by 400 trucks carrying goods into the Strip every day. Under the new policy, according to the Israeli NGO Gisha, Israel permitted only 106 trucks entry to deliver goods. In the following decades, the number of humanitarian trucks permitted to enter Gaza would vary, depending on several factors such as the political situation, security issues, agreements between Israel and Palestinian authorities, and interventions by international organizations. To obtain permission to import any commodity into the Strip, proof had to be supplied that they were indispensable, often causing delays and complications in the supply of humanitarian aid.
Diplomatic cables subsequently published by WikiLeaks revealed that Israel had informed the United States in 2008 that, while it would take measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis, it intended to keep Gaza's economy on the "brink of collapse". Precise calculations were made to determine the minimum calorific requirement (2,279 calories per person a day) to avoid malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and these formed the basis for Israel's determination of the truck numbers for food supplies from 2007 to 2010. The calculation excluded factors such as the collapse of agriculture due to the blockade which dried up access to seed markets. The complicated procedures for obtaining clearances from Israel at the transit points also caused notable spoilage further reducing the food allowed in. Prospective import goods had to arrive in Israeli trucks, which were unloaded as the goods were transferred to 'neutral' trucks that then were allowed transit to the Gaza side. Once there, the consignments had to be unloaded from the neutral trucks and reloaded on Gazan trucks.
The Goldstone Report discovered that during the 2008-2009 Gaza War, Israel’s invasion had caused deliberate and massive destruction of Gaza's agricultural sector. The agricultural sector, including crop farming, fisheries, livestock farming and poultry farming, suffered direct losses worth some US$ 170 million. Indirect losses have still to be definitively calculated. One business organization estimates that 60 per cent of all agricultural land had been destroyed, 40 per cent directly during the military operations. Moreover, 17 per cent of all orchards, 8.3 per cent of livestock, 2.6 per cent of poultry, 18.1 per cent of hatcheries, 25.6 per cent of beehives, 9.2 per cent of open fields and 13 per cent of groundwater wells were destroyed. Agriculture had already lost a third of its capacity since the start of the second intifada and the frequent Israeli incursions, according to NGO estimates used by UNDP-Gaza. Some 250 agricultural wells were reportedly destroyed or severely damaged.
Israel also declared 30% of the most arable land in the Strip no-go zones. After 2012, the Red Cross secured an agreement to allow Gazan farmers to cultivate crops of various heights, in areas respectively at 300 metres to 1 kilometre from Israel's fortified border fence. Both cultivators and their rudimentary irrigation devices nonetheless were often exposed to sniping and automated machinegun fire, and crops along the armistice line were, without warning, sprayed by Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Likewise, Israel placed severe restrictions on fishing within Gaza's waters — the 20 nautical miles agreed to under the Oslo Accords were unilaterally reduced to nine — with fishable areas demarcated with buoys. In 2009, Israel further reduced this to a 3 nautical mile limit with the result that 85% of Gaza's fishing water was blocked by Israeli warships. Israeli gunships reportedly fired on local fishermen even within these areas.
In the 2010s, some Israeli politicians denied the charge of using the blockade to deliberately cause harm or "humanitarian damage" to Palestinian civilians. Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said on 25 October 2010 "There is not, and never was, any intention to harm the Palestinian population living in Gaza". In 2008, former prime minister Ehud Olmert said "We won't allow for a humanitarian crisis, but we have no intention of making their lives easier."
In August 2023, it was reported that 12,076 truckloads of authorized goods entered Gaza, reflecting a slight improvement in the volume of goods allowed into the territory compared to previous periods. Despite these inflows, the volume of goods remained insufficient, given the 60% increase in population since 2007 and the escalating needs of the Gazan population.
The humanitarian impact of the blockade is compounded by recurrent hostilities, which not only result in high casualty rates but also further degrade Gaza's already fragile infrastructure. The United Nations and various human rights organizations have repeatedly called for the lifting of the blockade and for increased humanitarian access to alleviate the suffering of Gaza's residents. The situation in 2023, where the region has witnessed the highest number of fatalities since 2005, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Start of crisis[edit]
Following the 7 October attack, Israel announced on 9 October that it was blocking the entry of food and water into Gaza. Because Gaza was already mostly reliant on food aid, the repercussions were felt immediately. On 18 October, Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme, stated that the population of Gaza was at risk of starvation. Three days later, the UN released a statement saying food stocks were nearly exhausted. By 23 October, Cindy McCain, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, stated people were "literally starving to death as we speak".
On 27 October, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme stated food and other basic supplies were running out. On 3 November, UN officials stated the average Gazan diet consisted of only two pieces of bread per day, and ActionAid stated more than half a million Gazans faced death by starvation. On 11 November, Corinne Fleischer, Middle East regional director of the World Food Programme, stated, "hundreds of people are queueing for hours every day to get bread rations at bakeries," as people were being pushed "closer to starvation."
Damage[edit]
Damage to infrastructure[edit]
In 2023 and 2024, Israeli airstrikes severely impacted Gaza’s food supply, targeting bakeries, agricultural land, and food infrastructure. The damage led to widespread closures and shortages, affecting access to bread, flour, and other food staples. Michael Fakhri, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has stated such actions amount to an Israeli "starvation campaign" waged by destroying Gaza's food system.
In October 2023, Israeli airstrikes targeted bakeries and agricultural sites in Gaza. On 18 October, an airstrike destroyed a bakery in the Nuseirat Camp, killing four bakers. Subsequent strikes hit other bakeries, and by 24 October, many had closed, with those still open facing long lines. By 28 October, a fifth of Gaza’s bakeries were destroyed. In early November, Israel bombed one of Gaza City’s last bakeries, and UNOCHA reported over half of Gaza’s bakeries had been destroyed. By mid-November, no bakeries were operating in northern Gaza, and the last flour mill was bombed. Israeli strikes also damaged fishing ports, warehouses, and farmland, with 22% of farmland destroyed by 12 December.
In 2024, UNOSAT reported 33% of agricultural land was damaged by February. In June, an Israeli missile hit one of Deir al-Balah's two flour mills, also damaging a World Food Programme warehouse. By July, bakeries couldn’t open due to fuel shortages. In October, UNOSAT and the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated 67.6% of Gaza’s croplands had been damaged, severely impacting Gaza's food production.
Damage to the environment[edit]
Emergency and threat of famine[edit]
Timeline[edit]
November–December 2023[edit]
Cindy McCain stated on 17 November that civilians faced the immediate possibility of starvation. Ten days later, McCain stated Gaza was on the brink of famine, as begging for food became the "new norm." On 1 December, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, based on a committee of independent experts, placed almost the entire population of Gaza (93% or 2.08 million) at IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) with 79 percent in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 15% (378,000 people) in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).
On 7 December, the WFP stated 97% of households had inadequate food consumption and 83% in southern Gaza were surviving through "extreme consumption strategies." On 10 December, the UN, international aid organizations, and relief workers in Gaza warned of mass starvation. A representative for Medical Aid for Palestinians stated, "The hunger wars have started." On 15 December, the United Nations estimated nine out of ten residents were not eating food every day.
On 20 December, the United Nations stated people in Gaza were experiencing "alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed in Gaza". On 21 December, the United Nations stated more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip were starving. On 22 December, UNICEF warned of the increasingly growing threat of famine in the Gaza Strip. On 29 December, Mercy Corps stated half a million people faced "catastrophic hunger and starvation". In response, the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva accused the UN of "supporting Hamas propaganda". Additionally the mission stated that Israel had "continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid" and that Hamas militants “intentionally steal and hide aid from civilians." WHO stated people were trapped in a "vicious cycle" as malnutrition was worsening people's vulnerability to diseases.
| Time period | Phase 5:
"Catastrophe" or "Famine" |
Phase 4:
"Emergency" |
Phase 3:
"Crisis" |
Phase 1 or 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| 24 Nov — 7 Dec, 2023[3] | 377,283 | 17 | 938,547 | 42 | 765,990 | 34 | 144,725 | 7 |
| 15 Feb — 15 Mar, 2024[4] | 676,636 | 30 | 875,618 | 39 | 577,963 | 26 | 96,327 | 5 |
| 1 May —15 Jun, 2024[5] | 342,719 | 15 | 642,864 | 51 | 1,148,301 | 51 | 117,573 | 5 |
January 2024[edit]
By 1 January 2024 ninety percent of Palestinians in Gaza regularly went without food. The IDF alleged Hamas stole humanitarian aid; killed people seeking humanitarian aid; and keeps its own supply reserves. The US and the UN both denied Israeli claims that Hamas looting plays a significant role in the lack of aid, with a senior US official stating that "the Israeli government has not brought to the attention of the US government… any specific evidence of Hamas theft or diversion of assistance provided via the U.N. and its agencies. Full stop."
On 3 January 2024, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme, stated 80 percent of all people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger were in the Gaza Strip, stating, "In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity". Food prices rose in Gaza as food stocks were "running low".
The United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths stated on 5 January 2024, "People are facing the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded." Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises and international law, stated, "The rigor, scale and speed of the destruction of the structures necessary for survival, and enforcement of the siege, surpasses any other case of man-made famine in the last 75 years." António Guterres stated, "The long shadow of starvation is stalking the people of Gaza".
On 16 January 2024, UNOCHA reported 378,000 people in Gaza were in IPC Phase 5, or catastrophic levels of hunger. It reported all 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip were facing acute food insecurity – the highest proportion of a population experiencing starvation in recorded history. The Famine Review Committee (FRC) which compiled the Gaza data on famine in terms of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on 1 December 2023, forecast that the total population will be at Phase 3 by 7 February and that 25% or 500,000 Gazans will reach Phase 5.
On 21 January 2024, a journalist in the Gaza Strip reported that people were making flour using animal food. On 21 January 2024, the UN reported there were only fifteen bakeries still in operation across the entirety of the Gaza Strip. By 30 January 2024, CNN reported that Palestinians were eating grass to stay alive. On 31 January, the World Health Organization's emergencies director stated, "This is a population that is starving to death."
February–April 2024[edit]
On 12 February, the Food and Agriculture Organization stated there were "unprecedented levels of acute food insecurity, hunger, and near-famine-like conditions in Gaza." Israel attacked fishermen in Deir el-Balah attempting to catch fish to eat. On 27 February 2024, Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, told the United Nations Security Council that more than 500,000 people were at risk of imminent famine in Gaza.
On 17 February 2024, ActionAid stated that "every single person in the territory" was facing extreme levels of hunger, stating that people had even run out of animal feed to eat. By March, bird feed in northern Gaza had run out and people ate livestock feed. On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening". In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin. On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent. March Epidemiological forecasts projected future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.
On 13 March 2024, Israeli spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they were "trying to flood the area" with aid and that they were "learning and improving and doing different changes." In late March, António Guterres stated that it was time to "truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid" and that the starvation was a "moral outrage" In April, Yohav Gallant announced that Israel would create a new crossing on its border and that "we plan to flood Gaza with aid". Philippe Lazzarini stated on 30 April that “there is more food available on the market”, but “no cash circulating” in northern Gaza, making the food inaccessible. He further acknowledged the increase in supplies entering Gaza in April, but cautioned that it was "still far from enough to reverse the negative trend".
On 30 April 2024, when rendering its verdict in the Nicaragua v. Germany genocide case, the International Criminal Court said that it remained concerned about the situation in Gaza, "In particular, in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected". In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in."
May–July 2024[edit]
In May 2024, the World Food Programme reported, "The threat of famine in Gaza never loomed larger". The United Nations humanitarian chief stated famine in Gaza was an "immediate, clear and present danger" as food ran out and humanitarian operations were stuck. The Gaza media office said 98 percent of bakeries were closed. In June 2024, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization stated in a joint statement that more than 1 million people could face severe starvation within a month. The same month, the World Health Organization stated only two nutrition stabilisation centers remained operational in the Gaza Strip.
In May 2024, the FRC revised the IPC analysis concluding: "The FRC does not find the FEWS NET analysis plausible given the uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis. Therefore, the FRC is unable to make a determination as to whether or not famine thresholds have been passed during April". Specifically for food security analysis the revised report stated: "regarding estimates of food consumption, the FRC has some concerns with the methods by which the situation with regard to food availability in northern Gaza was calculated, which, combined with an incomplete understanding of food access makes the FEWS NET conclusions tenuous"; and regarding nutrition and mortality analysis: "The FRC is unable to make a determination as to whether or not Famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have been passed during April. Indeed, in the current circumstances, given the increase in food supply, a reduction in acute malnutrition might also be considered possible".
In late June, a leaked UN document said that 95% of the population of Gaza were in food insecurity, while almost 500,000 were facing near-famine hunger. The report found famine remained a possibility throughout the entirety of the Gaza Strip, and that the risk was "as high" as at any other time during the conflict. The UN stated one in five households went entire days without eating.
On 9 July 2024, a group of UN experts released a statement that Israel's "targeted starvation campaign" had caused the death of children in Gaza and that famine had spread from the North to the rest of Gaza. The statement cited the deaths of 3 children who had recently died of malnutrition in Gaza, saying: "When the first child dies from malnutrition and dehydration, it becomes irrefutable that famine has taken hold." In response, the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva accused the UN of "supporting Hamas propaganda". Additionally the mission stated that Israel had "continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid" and that Hamas militants “intentionally steal and hide aid from civilians." WHO stated people were trapped in a "vicious cycle" as malnutrition was worsening people's vulnerability to diseases.
October 2024–present[edit]
In October 2024, individuals familiar with aid flow into the Gaza Strip stated that the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Strip was at its lowest levels in seven months. The World Food Programme stated on 11 October 2024 that no food had entered the northern Gaza Strip that entire month, and that one million people faced starvation. Human rights organizations Gisha, B'Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights and Yesh Din warned this was one of the "alarming signs" that Israel was implementing the General's Plan to starve northern Gaza. The United Nations warned on 17 October that it would run out of food for people in northern Gaza in just a week and a half. The I.P.C. released an updated report, finding nearly all people in Gaza faced high levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 3), and 133,000 people faced catastrophic lack of food (Phase 5). By the end of the month, humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip reached its lowest levels since the conflict began.
Southern Gaza[edit]
On 7 January 2024, the UNRWA deputy director reported severe hunger in southern Gaza, stating, "I don't know how much more they can bear before something explodes in the southern part of Gaza". On 11 February, the mayor of Rafah stated the city was facing famine and that available supplies were only enough for 10 percent of the population. Long queues for food were reported in Rafah. On 15 February, UNOCHA stated there was "an urgent need to establish a stabilisation centre in Rafah for treating children suffering from severe malnutrition". UNOCHA stated on 17 February that people in Rafah were in "such dire need that they stop aid trucks to take food and eat it immediately". On 19 February, Israeli gunboats fired at fishermen attempting to catch fish off the coast of Rafah. A 73-year-old displaced woman stated on 25 February, "I have never witnessed the starvation like this… Death for us is much better than our current life".
In May 2024, Israel launched a military offensive in Rafah, seizing and closing the Rafah crossing, one of two major crossings for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Martin Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, stated, "Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed and we are prevented from helping them." In an assessment report, UNOCHA stated the closure of Rafah crossing and Israel's assault would have "serious consequences" for food and nutrition services. The UN ceased food distribution in Rafah on 21 May 2024, stating that humanitarian operations were on the verge of collapse, and if food supplies did not begin entering "in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread". On 30 May, the World Food Programme stated food access was so constrained that southern Gaza was at risk of the same levels of catastrophic hunger as the north. In June 2024, the World Food Programme stated its stocked up supplies of food in southern Gaza were beginning to run out. In July 2024, the World Food Programme stated they had been forced to reduce food rations for families in central and southern Gaza due to limited supplies. In September 2024, the UN warned that more than 1 million people in southern and central Gaza had received no food rations in the month of August.
Northern Gaza[edit]
On 13 January 2024, The Guardian reported that the World Food Programme had stated that nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day. The World Health Organization stated on 25 January 2024 that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes. A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death. An relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."
On 10 February 2024, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine". On 15 February, Al Jazeera reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food. The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible". To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass. A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived". In late-February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.
On 20 February 2024, the World Food Programme stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza. In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people". On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza. Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses. One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger." Al Jazeera reported that two sisters searching for food on 25 February had been shot and claimed that Israeli Army was responsible for the incident. Thousands of people in Gaza City waited for a possible delivery of flour on 25 February.
On 27 February 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, "What is happening in northern Gaza is a true famine... This escalating famine could kill thousands of citizens due to malnutrition and dehydration in the coming days in front of the eyes of the world." A man in the Jabalia refugee camp stated children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?" On 17 March 2024, 13 aid trucks arrived in Jabalia and Gaza City without incident, for the first time in months. In late-March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification placed northern Gaza in Phase 5, its most severe stage. Analysis from the Food and Agriculture Organization found widespread destruction in Gaza's agricultural sector, including the deaths of 60 percent of milk cows, 70 percent of cattle stock, and 60 percent of small ruminants like goats and sheep.
On 29 March 2024, the US State Department stated that famine in northern Gaza "quite possibly is present in at least some areas". A UNOCHA spokesperson stated people faced "cruel death by famine". By late March, the growing season for khobiza, a wild plant eaten in northern Gaza, was ending, which journalist Moath al-Kahlout stated "will lead to an even more horrific famine". The UN stated 30 percent of its March 2024 aid missions had been denied. In April 2024, Oxfam reported that people in northern Gaza were surviving on an average of 245 calories a day.
On 3 May 2024, Cindy McCain, American director of the U.N. World Food Programme, said "There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north, and it’s moving its way south." In early-June 2024, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) stated, "It is possible, if not likely" that famine was underway in northern Gaza.
In late June, the FRC released a new analysis of the IPC projections in north Gaza. It challenged the IPC and FEWS NET's methodologies and said that current evidence did not prove that famine was imminent. However, it acknowledged the "extreme human suffering" of civilians in Gaza and called for sustainable humanitarian aid to enter. It also said that conditions in north Gaza had seemingly improved. In response to the IPC findings, the WFP stated that "The improvement shows the difference that greater access can make" and "Increased food deliveries to the north and nutrition services have helped to reduce the very worst levels of hunger, leaving a still desperate situation." In July 2024, UNOCHA stated commercial trucks hadn't been able to make deliveries to northern Gaza for several months. In August 2024, the United Nations reported that childhood malnutrition cases had increased 300 percent between May and July 2024.
In November 2024, amidst the Siege of North Gaza, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee stated, "The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence." On November 8, the Famine Review Committee that famine was "imminent in areas within the Northern Gaza Strip." It also warned that action would need to be taken "within days not weeks" to avoid the situation. In response, the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva accused the UN of "supporting Hamas propaganda". Additionally the mission stated that Israel had "continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid" and that Hamas militants “intentionally steal and hide aid from civilians." WHO stated people were trapped in a "vicious cycle" as malnutrition was worsening people's vulnerability to diseases.
Humanitarian aid[edit]
[[File:U.S. Central Command airdrops 38,000 MREs over Gaza (8266207).jpg|thumb|Image of US airdrop of aid into Gaza. Al Jazeera reported that the drop was described as "ineffective" by Oxfam, and "symbolic" by a former director of USAID.[6][7]}}
On 9 January, Gisha reported that only 6,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October, the equivalent of twelve days of aid before the conflict's start. Colonel Moshe Tetro, who heads the Israeli unit overseeing deliveries of humanitarian aid, stated that there was no food shortage in Gaza and that existing reserves are sufficient.
Officials stated that the worsening crisis was partly attributable to the limited amount of aid being allowed into Gaza, with Cindy McCain stating, "People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food". Arif Husain, the WFP chief economist, stated on 24 January that only between 20 and 30 percent of needed aid was entering Gaza, as UNOCHA accused Israel of "systematically denying" humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza.
On 1 February 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for unrestricted humanitarian access, stating, "Everyone in Gaza is hungry." Human Rights Watch stated that the decision of 18 countries to defund UNRWA risked hastening famine. The World Food Programme stated on 2 February that aid to northern Gaza was being overwhelmingly rejected by the Israelis. Journalist Abubaker Abed stated, "Families eat strategically, just to stay alive." While speaking to CNN reporters in February 2024, some Palestinians stated humanitarian aid was being resold on the black market, with packages already opened. Israeli airstrikes around certain areas also caused prices to spike, with a 25-kilogram bag of flour jumping from $20 in Kahn Younis to $34 after intensified airstrikes. The same month, Human Rights Watch criticized the defunding of UNRWA, which they termed "the main humanitarian channel into Gaza", in the face of "mounting risks of famine and a binding order by the World Court in a case about genocide".
On 13 February 2024, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich blocked a US-funded flour shipment to Gaza and stated he had done so "in coordination with the prime minister". White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan confirmed Israel was blocking flour from entering Gaza. On 14 February, the Financial Times reported that an aid shipment that could have fed more than 1 million people for a month had been blocked at the Israeli port of Ashdod, with the Israeli government stating the food would not be released. The UN stated aid deliveries had halved in February from the month before. On 28 February, USAID chief Samantha Power stated more aid needed to enter Gaza, calling the situation "a matter of life and death".
Following a US announcement that it was beginning airdrops of aid and building a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated, "The time when countries use air drops and these maritime piers is usually, if not always, in situations when you want to deliver humanitarian aid into enemy territory". In late March, António Guterres stated that it was time to "truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid" and that the starvation was a "moral outrage" In April, Yohav Gallant announced that Israel would create a new crossing on its border and that "we plan to flood Gaza with aid". Philippe Lazzarini stated on 30 April that “there is more food available on the market”, but “no cash circulating” in northern Gaza, making the food inaccessible. He further acknowledged the increase in supplies entering Gaza in April, but cautioned that it was "still far from enough to reverse the negative trend".
On 30 April 2024, when rendering its verdict in the Nicaragua v. Germany genocide case, the International Criminal Court said that it remained concerned about the situation in Gaza, "In particular, in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected". In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in."
Israeli blocking of aid[edit]
Israeli attacks on aid distribution[edit]
According to Forensic Architecture, a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London, more than 40 Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers have been documented. According to the group, these were not isolated events, but were rather "systematic in nature".
On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150. Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February. On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need". On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City reported three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.
On 29 February, the Gaza Health Ministry reported 20 people had been killed and 150 wounded in an Israeli attack on aid seekers. Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February. On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need". On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City reported three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.
On 29 February, more than 100 people seeking humanitarian died in the Flour massacre, following Israeli gunfire at the Al Nabulsi roundabout west of Gaza City. The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".
On 2 March, three people in Beit Hanoun were killed while picking herbs for food. On 3 March, at least nine people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in an Israeli airstrike in Deir el-Balah. Later on the same day, dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City. The Ministry of Health called it a "horrific massacre". On 4 March, another attack was reported at the Kuwaiti roundabout, after thousands of people waited all day for humanitarian aid, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them as soon as the trucks arrived. Al Jazeera stated the attacks on aid seekers had become "a near-daily occurrence". On 6 March, eight people were wounded after Israel fired live rounds at people seeking humanitarian aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 7 March, five people were killed while waiting for aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 8 March, several people seeking humanitarian aid were reportedly killed by Israeli open fire at the Kuwaiti roundabout. By 12 March, Israel had killed an estimated 400 humanitarian aid seekers in Gaza. Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers was described as the "new normal" for Palestinians in northern Gaza.
On 13 March 2024, at least nine aid seekers were shot and wounded by Israeli troops at the Kuwaiti roundabout. On 14 March 2024, Israeli troops fired on Palestinians receiving aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout, killing 21 and injuring more than 150 others. In a statement on 15 March, the UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths stated that attacks on aid seekers "cannot be allowed to continue". The Norwegian Refugee Council stated the attacks "shouldn’t be happening". On 19 March, at least 23 people were killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted a group of aid coordinators at the Kuwaiti roundabout.
On 1 April 2024, an Israeli drone fired three consecutive missiles at three cars belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven aid workers who had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been pushed close to famine by Israel's siege and blockade during the Israel–Hamas war. In June 2024, eight people were reportedly killed at an UNRWA aid distribution training center near Gaza City.
Looting[edit]
In February 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that lawlessness in Gaza was hindering aid efforts. Axios reported that armed gangs have been attacking and looting aid trucks since Hamas police have quit due to Israeli attacks. A Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesman stated that the civil disorder "contributed to around a 50 percent decrease in the total number of aid trucks entering Gaza in February" and an Egyptian aid truck driver described people climbing and smashing aid trucks.
In June, The New York Times reported that relief groups had stopped delivering aid to southern Gaza due to looting and attacks from armed gangs, with aid trucks being peppered by bullet holes. Both commercial and aid agencies decided that they could not risk employees’ lives. One aid worker described the daily attacks from armed criminal gangs in the Israel-Gaza border area as being coordinated and organized. The worker said that sometimes the aid truck drivers were beaten. Another Gazan businessman said that in the past he paid thousands of dollars to other Gazans to protect his trucks. To try to make up for the aid deficiency, Israel allowed more commercial trucks into Gaza from Israel and the occupied West Bank, which unlike UN convoys, usually travel with armed protection. One Gazan businessman said that in the past he paid thousands of dollars to other Gazans to protect his trucks. An associate professor of political science at Al-Azhar University said the lawlessness is a result of increasing desperation and the power vacuum left from Hamas' decreasing power over Gaza.
In late June, the UN warned that it would suspend aid operations in Gaza unless Israel increased efforts to protect humanitarian workers. A State Department spokesman said that in June, looting and other criminal attacks were the largest barriers to delivering aid, rather than Israeli strikes or Hamas’ commandeering of aid convoys. In July, the UN said that they would be bringing in more personal safety equipment and armored vehicles following approval from Israeli officials.
On 16 November 2024 armed gangs captured and looted 98 trucks carrying aid. The convoy, which had been organized by UNRWA and the World Food Programme, consisted of 109 trucks and was attacked shortly after crossing into Gaza from Kerem Shalom. A UNRWA spokesperson said that "We’re back at a stage where we’re seeing people literally fighting over a bag of flour" and that "Israeli authorities continue to restrict a huge amount of the humanitarian response. Everything here is being strangled — food, flour, water — everything." One UN aid official blamed organized crime for attacks on aid convoys, and others have reported that family clans from southern Gaza previously known to be involved with looting were behind the most recent attacks on convoys. UN aid officials have said that delivering aid has never been more difficult. According to a UN memo, the criminals would operate with "the passive, if not active benevolence" of the IDF.
Effect on children and elderly[edit]
Children[edit]
On 14 January 2024, Philippe Lazzarini stated, "Whenever you go to a school, the kids are looking at your eyes begging for a sip of water or a loaf of bread." On 16 January, officials reported newborn babies with undernourished mothers were dying within days, and children weakened by starvation were dying from hypothermia. On 18 January, the deputy executive director of UNICEF took a tour of the Gaza Strip, stating he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen" and that "thousands of children are malnourished and sick." On 10 February 2024, a UNICEF spokesperson said Gaza had the world's highest rate of child malnutrition. On 17 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported an instance of an 8-year-old girl who had died from starvation and dehydration.
On 19 February 2024, UNICEF found that nearly 16 percent of children in northern Gaza under two-years-old were "acutely malnourished", with 3 percent suffering from severe wasting. One mother in northern Gaza described the situation on 21 February, stating, "My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger". On 26 February, two children from Gaza City stated they ate once every two days, and were then eating animal feed. Action Aid, citing the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated on 25 February that a "significant number" of children in northern Gaza had already died from starvation. On 1 March, a representative from Save the Children stated that due to Israeli bombardment and restrictions on aid, children were starving with trucks full of food waiting to enter "in slow motion". Melanie Ward, the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen." On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening". In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin. On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent. March Epidemiological forecasts projected future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.
On 13 March 2024, The Guardian reported that the World Food Programme had stated that nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day. The World Health Organization stated on 25 March 2024 that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes. A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death. An relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."
On 10 February 2024, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine". On 15 February, Al Jazeera reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food. The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible". To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass. A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived". In late-February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.
On 20 February 2024, the World Food Programme stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza. In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people". On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza. Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses. One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger." Al Jazeera reported that two sisters searching for food on 25 February had been shot and claimed that Israeli Army was responsible for the incident. Thousands of people in Gaza City waited for a possible delivery of flour on 25 February.
On 27 February 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry stated, "What is happening in northern Gaza is a true famine... This escalating famine could kill thousands of citizens due to malnutrition and dehydration in the coming days in front of the eyes of the world." A man in the Jabalia refugee camp stated children "are dying and fainting in the streets from hunger. What can we do?" On 17 March 2024, 13 aid trucks arrived in Jabalia and Gaza City without incident, for the first time in months. In late-March 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification placed northern Gaza in Phase 5, its most severe stage. Analysis from the Food and Agriculture Organization found widespread destruction in Gaza's agricultural sector, including the deaths of 60 percent of milk cows, 70 percent of cattle stock, and 60 percent of small ruminants like goats and sheep.
On 29 March 2024, the US State Department stated that famine in northern Gaza "quite possibly is present in at least some areas". A UNOCHA spokesperson stated people faced "cruel death by famine". By late March, the growing season for khobiza, a wild plant eaten in northern Gaza, was ending, which journalist Moath al-Kahlout stated "will lead to an even more horrific famine". The UN stated 30 percent of its March 2024 aid missions had been denied. In April 2024, Oxfam reported that people in northern Gaza were surviving on an average of 245 calories a day.
On 3 May 2024, Cindy McCain, American director of the U.N. World Food Programme, said "There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north, and it’s moving its way south." In early-June 2024, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) stated, "It is possible, if not likely" that famine was underway in northern Gaza. In late June, the FRC released a new analysis of the IPC projections in north Gaza. It challenged the IPC and FEWS NET's methodologies and said that current evidence did not prove that famine was imminent. However, it acknowledged the "extreme human suffering" of civilians in Gaza and called for sustainable humanitarian aid to enter. It also said that conditions in north Gaza had seemingly improved. In response to the IPC findings, the WFP stated that "The improvement shows the difference that greater access can make" and "Increased food deliveries to the north and nutrition services have helped to reduce the very worst levels of hunger, leaving a still desperate situation." In July 2024, UNOCHA stated commercial trucks hadn't been able to make deliveries to northern Gaza for several months. In August 2024, the United Nations reported that childhood malnutrition cases had increased 300 percent between May and July 2024.
In November 2024, amidst the Siege of North Gaza, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee stated, "The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence." On November 8, the Famine Review Committee that famine was "imminent in areas within the Northern Gaza Strip." It also warned that action would need to be taken "within days not weeks" to avoid the situation. In response, the Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva accused the UN of "supporting Hamas propaganda". Additionally the mission stated that Israel had "continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid" and that Hamas militants “intentionally steal and hide aid from civilians." WHO stated people were trapped in a "vicious cycle" as malnutrition was worsening people's vulnerability to diseases.
Elderly[edit]
In March 2024, the elderly were reportedly dying at an "alarmingly high rate", with the Euro-Med Monitor stating it was receiving daily reports of the elderly dying of starvation. The group stated, "The majority of these cases do not reach hospital... after dying at home, the elderly are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves".
Number of deaths[edit]
In May 2024, the head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children, stated the official count of 28 children dead from malnutrition and disease was "probably the tip of the iceberg", due to the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system. In June 2024, Cindy McCain, the head of the World Food Programme, stated children and adults were dying from starvation after being reduced to the "size of a skeleton". The same month, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network stated, "Regardless of whether or not the famine (IPC phase 5) thresholds have been definitively reached or exceeded, people are dying of hunger-related causes across Gaza". According to a letter sent to President Joseph R. Biden, Vice President Kamala D. Harris, and others on October 2, 2024 by 99 American healthcare workers who have served in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and cited in a study from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, based on starvation standards by the United States-funded Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, according to the most conservative estimate that they could calculate based on the available data, at least 62,413 people in Gaza have thus far died from starvation, most of them young children.
Accusations of war crimes[edit]
| “ | I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly. | ” |
| — Yoav Gallant, (Israel Defense Minister)[8] | ||
On 18 December 2023, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of "using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip". On 16 January 2024, UN experts accused Israel of "destroying Gaza’s food system and using food as a weapon against the Palestinian people". The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, stated Israel was using hunger as a weapon against Palestinians. On 23 January, Alex De Waal stated Israel was committing a war crime through enforced starvation, stating, "An entire population being reduced to this stage is really unprecedented. We haven’t seen it in Ethiopia, in Sudan and Yemen – pretty much anywhere else in the world."
On 13 February 2024, US Senator Chris Van Hollen, stated, "Kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food. That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals." A representative from the Palestinian non-profit organization Juhoud for Community and Rural Development stated, "The denial of access to food, water, and other necessities consists of a serious violation of international law". Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview with El Pais that "We are already in the midst of a catastrophe. The United Nations has had to suspend humanitarian aid: Israel is using famine as a weapon of war and that is contrary to international law." Belgian foreign minister Alexander De Croo stated, "We are already in the midst of a catastrophe. The United Nations has had to suspend humanitarian aid: Israel is using famine as a weapon of war and that is contrary to international law." On 3 March, Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard stated that week's death of ten children from malnutrition was unlawful and the result of an Israeli "engineered famine". On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent. March Epidemiological forecasts projected future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.
On 13 March 2024, Israeli spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they were "trying to flood the area" with aid and that they were "learning and improving and doing different changes." In late March, António Guterres stated that it was time to "truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid" and that the starvation was a "moral outrage" In April, Yohav Gallant announced that Israel would create a new crossing on its border and that "we plan to flood Gaza with aid". Philippe Lazzarini stated on 30 April that “there is more food available on the market”, but “no cash circulating” in northern Gaza, making the food inaccessible. He further acknowledged the increase in supplies entering Gaza in April, but cautioned that it was "still far from enough to reverse the negative trend".
On 30 April 2024, when rendering its verdict in the Nicaragua v. Germany genocide case, the International Criminal Court said that it remained concerned about the situation in Gaza, "In particular, in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which they have been subjected". In its March 2024 interim ruling, the ICJ stated, "The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine (...) but that famine is setting in."
Israeli attacks on aid distribution[edit]
According to Forensic Architecture, a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London, more than 40 Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers have been documented. According to the group, these were not isolated events, but were rather "systematic in nature".
On 25 January 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry reported an Israeli attack on aid seekers had killed 20 and wounded 150. Israel bombed a truck loaded with food head toward northern Gaza on 5 February. On 6 February, Israeli forces reportedly open fired on people waiting for food aid trucks in Gaza City. UNOCHA stated it was the fifth report of Israeli firing upon people waiting for humanitarian aid. On 18 February, multiple instances of Israeli sniper attacks on civilians seeking humanitarian assistance were reported. On 20 February, at least one Palestinian civilian was killed while waiting to receive humanitarian aid. People seeking aid were attacked by Israeli forces on multiple occasions. UNOCHA stated on 27 February that "aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need". On 28 February, medical sources in Gaza City reported three people were killed while waiting for aid on al-Rashid Street.
On 29 February, more than 100 people seeking humanitarian died in the Flour massacre, following Israeli gunfire at the Al Nabulsi roundabout west of Gaza City. The United Nations called for an investigation on 1 March into the killing of humanitarian aid seekers, stating it had "recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies".
On 2 March, three people in Beit Hanoun were killed while picking herbs for food. On 3 March, at least nine people were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid in Deir el-Balah. Later on the same day, dozens of civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City. The Ministry of Health called it a "horrific massacre". On 4 March, another attack was reported at the Kuwaiti roundabout, after thousands of people waited all day for humanitarian aid, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them as soon as the trucks arrived. Al Jazeera stated the attacks on aid seekers had become "a near-daily occurrence". On 6 March, eight people were wounded after Israel fired live rounds at people seeking humanitarian aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 7 March, five people were killed while waiting for aid at the Nabulsi roundabout. On 8 March, several people seeking humanitarian aid were reportedly killed by Israeli open fire at the Kuwaiti roundabout. By 12 March, Israel had killed an estimated 400 humanitarian aid seekers in Gaza. Israeli attacks on humanitarian aid seekers was described as the "new normal" for Palestinians in northern Gaza.
On 13 March 2024, at least nine aid seekers were shot and wounded by Israeli troops at the Kuwaiti roundabout. On 14 March 2024, Israeli troops fired on Palestinians receiving aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout, killing 21 and injuring more than 150 others. In a statement on 15 March, the UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths stated that attacks on aid seekers "cannot be allowed to continue". The Norwegian Refugee Council stated the attacks "shouldn’t be happening". On 19 March, at least 23 people were killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted a group of aid coordinators at the Kuwaiti roundabout.
On 1 April 2024, an Israeli drone fired three consecutive missiles at three cars belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven aid workers who had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been pushed close to famine by Israel's siege and blockade during the Israel–Hamas war. In June 2024, eight people were reportedly killed at an UNRWA aid distribution training center near Gaza City.
Looting[edit]
In February 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that lawlessness in Gaza was hindering aid efforts. Axios reported that armed gangs have been attacking and looting aid trucks since Hamas police have quit due to Israeli attacks. A Palestine Red Crescent Society spokesman stated that the civil disorder "contributed to around a 50 percent decrease in the total number of aid trucks entering Gaza in February" and an Egyptian aid truck driver described people climbing and smashing aid trucks.
In June, The New York Times reported that relief groups had stopped delivering aid to southern Gaza due to looting and attacks from armed gangs, with aid trucks being peppered by bullet holes. Both commercial and aid agencies decided that they could not risk employees’ lives. One aid worker described the daily attacks from armed criminal gangs in the Israel-Gaza border area as being coordinated and organized. The worker said that sometimes the aid truck drivers were beaten. Another Gazan businessman said that in the past he paid thousands of dollars to other Gazans to protect his trucks. To try to make up for the aid deficiency, Israel allowed more commercial trucks into Gaza from Israel and the occupied West Bank, which unlike UN convoys, usually travel with armed protection. One Gazan businessman said that in the past he paid thousands of dollars to other Gazans to protect his trucks. An associate professor of political science at Al-Azhar University said the lawlessness is a result of increasing desperation and the power vacuum left from Hamas' decreasing power over Gaza.
In late June, a leaked UN document said that 95% of the population of Gaza were in food insecurity, while almost 500,000 were facing near-famine hunger. The report found famine remained a possibility throughout the entirety of the Gaza Strip, and that the risk was "as high" as at any other time during the conflict. The UN stated one in five households went entire days without eating.
On 16 November 2024 armed gangs captured and looted 98 trucks carrying aid. The convoy, which had been organized by UNRWA and the World Food Programme, consisted of 109 trucks and was attacked shortly after crossing into Gaza from Kerem Shalom. A UNRWA spokesperson said that "We’re back at a stage where we’re seeing people literally fighting over a bag of flour" and that "Israeli authorities continue to restrict a huge amount of the humanitarian response. Everything here is being strangled — food, flour, water — everything." One UN aid official blamed organized crime for attacks on aid convoys, and others have reported that family clans from southern Gaza previously known to be involved with looting were behind the most recent attacks on convoys. UN aid officials have said that delivering aid has never been more difficult. According to a UN memo, the criminals would operate with "the passive, if not active benevolence" of the IDF.
Effect on children and elderly[edit]
Children[edit]
On 14 January 2024, Philippe Lazzarini stated, "Whenever you go to a school, the kids are looking at your eyes begging for a sip of water or a loaf of bread." On 16 January, officials reported newborn babies with undernourished mothers were dying within days, and children weakened by starvation were dying from hypothermia. On 18 January, the deputy executive director of UNICEF took a tour of the Gaza Strip, stating he had witnessed "some of the most horrific conditions I have ever seen" and that "thousands of children are malnourished and sick." On 10 February 2024, a UNICEF spokesperson said Gaza had the world's highest rate of child malnutrition. On 17 February, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported an instance of an 8-year-old girl who had died from starvation and dehydration.
On 19 February 2024, UNICEF found that nearly 16 percent of children in northern Gaza under two-years-old were "acutely malnourished", with 3 percent suffering from severe wasting. One mother in northern Gaza described the situation on 21 February, stating, "My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger". On 26 February, two children from Gaza City stated they ate once every two days, and were then eating animal feed. Action Aid, citing the head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated on 25 February that a "significant number" of children in northern Gaza had already died from starvation. On 1 March, a representative from Save the Children stated that due to Israeli bombardment and restrictions on aid, children were starving with trucks full of food waiting to enter "in slow motion". Melanie Ward, the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians, stated, "This is the fastest decline in a population's nutrition status ever recorded. That means children are being starved at the fastest rate the world has ever seen." On 3 March, the Gaza government media office stated, "the famine is still deepening". In March 2024, experts, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, warned that Gaza might already be experiencing famine; while Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, stated that "large-scale famine mortality" would soon begin. On 7 March, UNOCHA stated that the annual rate of food inflation was 118 percent in January 2024, while the consumer price index for food rose nearly 105 percent. March Epidemiological forecasts projected future deaths in Gaza from all causes, including epidemics, as ranging from 48,210 to 193,180 by August 2024.
On 13 March 2024, The Guardian reported that the World Food Programme had stated that nine out of ten people in northern Gaza were eating less than a meal a day. The World Health Organization stated on 25 March 2024 that the food situation was "absolutely horrific" in northern Gaza, with rare aid deliveries mobbed by visibly starved people with sunken eyes. A Mercy Corps team member reported he had witnessed such intense overcrowding of thousands around two food aid trucks in northern Gaza that two people suffocated to death. An relief worker with Al Baraka, an Algerian charity, stated northern Gaza was on the verge of famine, saying, "Almost no relief aid has been delivered to the people here since the beginning of Israel's aggression."
On 10 February 2024, the Gaza Media Office stated, "We immediately demand the entry of a thousand trucks daily into northern Gaza until it recovers from the famine". On 15 February, Al Jazeera reported that people in northern Gaza were going days and even weeks without sufficient food. The Food and Agriculture Organization stated that distributing food in northern Gaza remained a challenge as it was "barely accessible". To survive, people ate animal feed, herbs, weeds, and grass. A UNOCHA representative stated, "There are about 300,000 people in the north and I have no idea how they've survived". In late-February 2024, a grain mill in northern Gaza shut down due to a lack of fuel.
On 20 February 2024, the World Food Programme stated it would cease aid delivery to northern Gaza. In response to the announcement, the Gaza Media Office stated it was "a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people". On 24 February, UNRWA announced it was also suspending humanitarian services in northern Gaza. Families in Jabalia refugee camp reported being so hungry they ate scraps, leaves, and their horses. One man in Jabalia stated, "We have no water, no flour and we are very tired because of hunger
- ↑ "Gaza: Krankenschwester aus den USA berichtet von »massiven Verbrennungen« bei Kindern" [Gaza: Nurse from the USA reports "massive burns" among children]. Der Spiegel (in Deutsch). 8 November 2023. ISSN 2195-1349. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Why an American nurse who got out of Gaza says she would go back". CNN. 8 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The Gaza Strip – IPC Special Brief, Issued January 2024" (PDF).
- ↑ "IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, 15 February – 15 July 2024" (PDF). 18 March 2024.
- ↑ "IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, May – September 2024" (PDF). 2024-07-10.
- ↑ "Oxfam blasts Biden's airdrop plan, says US officials trying to relieve 'guilty consciences'". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Aid airdrops 'symbolic' gesture to 'appease' US electorate". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑
- Jankowicz, Mia. "Israel announces 'complete siege' of Gaza, cutting its electricity, food, water, and fuel". Business Insider. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- "Gaza 'soon without fuel, medicine and food'". BBC News. 9 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - "Imminent famine in northern Gaza is 'entirely man-made disaster': Guterres". UN News. 18 March 2024. Archived from the original
|archive-url=requires|url=(help) on|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help). Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help);|access-date=requires|url=(help) - "The Guardian view on famine in Gaza: a human-made catastrophe". The Guardian. 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
