Gaza_ As Israeli genocide in Gaza continues unabated, “deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in northern Gaza as soon as next month owing to Israel’s ‘near-total blockade’ of food and other aid,” according to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) on Tuesday as quoted by the Associated Press.
This is in addition to the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. At least 58 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip Monday, a day before Christmas Eve, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 45,317, most of them children and women.
The Health Ministry in Gaza also said that some 107,713 others were injured in the ongoing assault. “Israeli forces killed 58 people and injured 86 others in five massacres of families in the last 24 hours and many people are still trapped under the rubble,” the ministry said.
According to FEWS NET, “Israel’s near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas of North Gaza Governorate (including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun) has been in place for nearly 80 days. As of November 16, OCHA estimated 65,000-75,000 people remained in North Gaza Governorate, including civilians who have been unable to or prevented from evacuating.”
FEWS Net was created by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises.”
“In the absence of a change to Israeli policy on the entry of food and nutrition supplies to this area, FEWS NET expects non-trauma mortality levels will pass the Famine (IPC Phase 5) threshold between January and March 2025, with at least 2-15 people dying per day,” it stressed.
“More recent satellite-derived imagery suggests thousands of people evacuated in early December, and efforts are underway to update the estimated size of the remaining population; an update from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on December 22 suggests the population may be as low as 10,000-15,000.
“Since October, the vast majority of food entering Gaza via the Erez West border crossing has only been approved for transport to Gaza City. FEWS NET’s analysis of WFP reports suggests no food entered besieged areas of North Gaza governorate between October 2 and 31, while only 130-135 metric tons (MT) (November 7; November 11) of food successfully entered in November, estimated to cover less than 5 percent of food needs among the population that was estimated to be in North Gaza at that time.
“Acute malnutrition data collected during an earlier, comparable period of the conflict, supported by the empirical relationship between food depriviation, disease, and acute malnutrition, suggest the acute malnutrition threshold for Famine (IPC Phase 5) has likely also been surpassed as of December.
“In the absence of treatment, a ≥50 percent restriction of minimum kilocalorie needs in already-malnourished adults is associated with a descent into severe malnourishment in as little as 4-8 weeks, and the pace of deterioration occurs more rapidly among children.
“If the food supply remains cut off from North Gaza Governorate, the combination of starvation and disease would most likely push non-trauma mortality above 2 people/10,000/day between January and March, meeting the third criterion for Famine (IPC Phase 5).
“Amid a 4-6 month absence of significant food supply, the remnants of food in vacant homes and rubble will be exhausted or spoiled during winter rains, as will atypical items the population may resort to eating (e.g., food waste, wild vegetation, animal feed, animal carcasses). Eventually, the majority of the population is expected to routinely go days without eating,” FEWS NET assured the world.
FEWS NET concluded that “across the rest of Gaza, the risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5) remains very credible due to Israeli restrictions on commercial food supplies paired with severe security risks— ranging from looting by criminal gangs to air strikes—the are impeding the distribution of humanitarian food supplies.”
Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Gaza Alert December 23, 2024: A Famine (IPC Phase 5) scenario continues to unfold in North Gaza Governorate, 2024.
