Famine looms in Gaza amid Israel's total blockade of humanitarian aid

The entire population of the Gaza Strip, or 2.1 million people, faces acute food insecurity, and nearly half a million will face catastrophic extreme hunger by September if a ceasefire is not achieved and Israel does not end its blockade of the Strip, which has deprived it of food, fuel, medicine, and other resources since early March. These are the findings of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) , the globally recognized index independently compiled by experts at the request of the UN and other international organizations. Its updated figures, published Monday, are particularly alarming and show a profound deterioration of the situation in Gaza compared to the last report in October.

"Indispensable goods for the population's survival have been depleted or are expected to be depleted in the coming weeks. The entire population faces high levels of acute food insecurity," this report warns.

The IPC establishes five levels of food insecurity: minimal, acute, crisis, emergency, and famine. At stage three and above, the situation is considered alarming. In Gaza, by the end of September, the entire population will be in that stage or in the most severe categories (4 or 5). Specifically, one million will be in Stage 4 and 470,000 in Stage 5 or catastrophic. By comparison, from April 1 to May 10, there were 244,000 people in Stage 5, roughly half the number expected from now on.

Essential supplies for the population's survival have been depleted or are expected to be depleted in the coming weeks. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

“The 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) closed in early April due to a lack of supplies, and food reserves have been exhausted for most of the 177 soup kitchens that provided a hot meal to the population, as well as UNICEF and WFP nutritional supplements,” the report details. Experts cite that 25 kg of flour, a rare commodity in the Strip today, can cost around €500 in Gaza City, for example. “Many households are resorting to extreme survival strategies. A third reported collecting garbage to sell for food, while a quarter indicated that there is no valuable garbage left. Observations reveal that the social order is breaking down ,” the experts warn.

Since March 1 , Israel has not allowed a single truckload of humanitarian aid into the Strip. With this total blockade, it aims to pressure the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, to capitulate, accept the Israeli military occupation of the Strip, and hand over the hostages it has held since October 7, 2023—some 59 people, half of whom are already presumed dead. On Monday, Hamas released the only surviving US citizen, 21-year-old soldier Edan Alexander, in a gesture of "goodwill" toward Washington.

Every day counts

“The international community must act now. Restoring access to humanitarian and commercial supplies on a large scale is critical. Every day of delay deepens hunger and accelerates starvation, bringing us closer to famine,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), following the release of this report.

According to FAO, the few animals still alive in Gaza—for example, 36% of sheep and 39% of goats—represent “the only accessible source of milk and meat for many families.” However, although FAO has distributed more than 2,100 tons of feed and veterinary kits to more than 4,800 pastoralists in Gaza, the needs are much greater, and the animals may be dying or becoming vectors of disease, the organization warns. Regarding land, a geospatial assessment conducted by FAO and UNOSAT between October and December 2024 indicates that 75% of crop fields and olive groves have been damaged or destroyed.

Every day of delay aggravates hunger and accelerates starvation, bringing us closer to famine.

QU Dongyu, FAO

For famine to officially be considered afflicting a population, three criteria must be met: one in five households must be suffering from extreme food shortages, 30% of children must be severely malnourished, and at least two in every 10,000 people (or at least four in every 10,000 children under the age of five) must die each day as a result of absolute starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.

The restrictions on humanitarian workers entering and working in Gaza and the general devastation of the Strip make it difficult to accurately assess the real extent of hunger in the territory. It is clear that the vast majority of the population wakes up in the morning unsure whether they will be able to eat during the day. At best, they manage to eat one meal a day, and what they eat lacks the necessary protein and nutrients. This would be equivalent to level 3 on this index. Level 4 implies going three days without eating, and level 5, at least 10 days without eating a worthy meal. The experts interviewed by EL PAÍS in recent months admit that there are more malnourished children than known, or people, especially infants, the elderly, or the sick, who die from complications arising from starvation and are not included in any statistics.

An international humanitarian convoy

After the index was made public, more than 200 NGOs from around the world, especially Arab ones, called for the immediate deployment of a humanitarian diplomatic convoy to Gaza from the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, and urged countries to "send official diplomatic missions to accompany the trucks" as they entered the Strip. "This is an act of legal obligation, moral courage, and human solidarity. A humanitarian diplomatic convoy would mark a historic step toward breaking the siege , ending the famine, and affirming the world's rejection of hunger as a weapon of war," they emphasized in a joint statement.

Silence in the face of this man-made famine is complicity

Mahmoud Alsaqqa, Oxfam

The NGOs explained that a specific withdrawal date will be announced soon and that countries must reject "the militarization of aid and distribution mechanisms planned by Israel," announced last week, as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

“The famine in Gaza is not accidental, it is deliberate,” stressed Mahmoud Alsaqqa, food security coordinator at the NGO Oxfam, noting that “thousands of trucks filled with vital supplies are waiting at the border, meters away, blocked from entering.”

“Silence in the face of this man-made famine is complicity,” the official insisted in a statement, calling on the international community to exert pressure so that, following the ceasefire and the release of the hostages, “Israel is held accountable for its use of famine as a weapon of war.”