Today, a report was issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a “multi-partner initiative for improving food security and nutrition analysis,” warning that the entire Gaza Strip is threatened with a “catastrophic” situation of hunger and “high risk of famine” as long as the war continues and access to humanitarian aid is restricted. “Only the cessation of hostilities in conjunction with sustained humanitarian access to the entire Gaza Strip can reduce the risk of a famine occurring in the Gaza Strip,” the report warned, according to CNN. Half a million Palestinians are on the brink of starvation and there is a “plausible” risk of famine in coming months, the IPC report warns.
Earlier this year, the IPC had predicted that northern Gaza would be afflicted with famine by May. That didn’t occur as predicted, due to temporarily increased aid deliveries in March and April. Now, however, all of Gaza has been affected by Israel’s total shutdown of the Rafah crossing in the south as it pursued Hamas in that city, which has halted all aid deliveries.
