{"id":294382,"date":"2024-03-18T16:32:11","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T20:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=294382"},"modified":"2024-08-08T14:27:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T18:27:49","slug":"hunger-in-gaza-wfpa-18mar24","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/hunger-in-gaza-wfpa-18mar24\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunger in Gaza: Famine findings a \u2018dark mark\u2019 on the world, says WFP Palestine country director – WFP story"},"content":{"rendered":"

18 March 2024<\/p>\n

Nearly six months into war, half the enclave\u2019s population faces catastrophic food insecurity<\/h3>\n

By: Elizabeth Bryant<\/p>\n

\"WFP

WFP Palestine Country Director ad interim Matthew Hollingworth speaks to Gazans during his visit to the enclave. A ceasefire is an “absolute requirement” he says, to turn the hunger crisis around. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n

Children crying out from hunger and dying of malnutrition. People risking gunfire to reach aid convoys, and surviving on animal fodder and soup made from leaves and grass. Levels of hopelessness and food insecurity that could turn a humanitarian catastrophe into something much worse.<\/p>\n

These are the images behind the horrific hunger numbers published\u00a0today<\/a>, showing 300,000 people in Gaza’s northern governorates face famine in the coming weeks\u2014snapshots of desperation Matthew Hollingworth, World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director ad interim for Palestine, has seen daily during his visit of the conflict-torn strip.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamine is a reality,\u201d says Hollingworth, of the\u00a0expert analysi<\/a>s known as Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for acute food insecurity. It finds 1.1 million Gazans are now experiencing catastrophic hunger\u2014the highest level of food insecurity\u2014a number that has doubled in just three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing the highest hunger level of anywhere else in the world in terms of total numbers,\u201d Hollingworth says. \u201cIt\u2019s all manmade. It\u2019s shocking how bad things have gotten so quickly, because WFP and other humanitarians can\u2019t reach starving people. It\u2019s a dark mark on the world\u2019s inability to stop this from happening.”<\/p>\n

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\"A

A little girl receives WFP food in Deir Albalah, in central Gaza. Famine is imminent in parts of the enclave, however, as humanitarian aid piles up on its borders due to access constraints. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Almost three-quarters of people experiencing catastrophic hunger are in northern Gaza Strip, where humanitarian access has been severely restricted. The IPC findings project famine will arrive there between now and May.<\/p>\n

But pockets of famine-like conditions exist elsewhere, Hollingworth says\u2014and risk growing rapidly without a ceasefire and quick, massive amounts of humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n

Ceasefire needed<\/h3>\n

\u201cFor a lot of people, it\u2019s already too late,\u201d says Hollingworth. \u201cIt\u2019s too late when mothers try to stop the cries of their hungry children, when people are reduced to eating animal fodder, and when we hear reports of children dying of malnutrition-related illnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

A U-turn is still possible, he and other humanitarians say. If a ceasefire takes hold, allowing humanitarian staff and supplies to move freely\u2014and Gazans to access assistance safely\u2014WFP, for one, can scale up rapidly to supply enough food for more than a million of the hungriest people a month.<\/p>\n

\"a

Gazans who can do so exchange wheat flour for traditional ‘Saj’ flatbread. Despite skyrocketing hunger, many people are fasting and eating only after sunset during this holy Muslim month of Ramadan. \u00a0Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not too late to prevent more suffering,\u201d Hollingworth says. \u201cA ceasefire is an absolute requirement. Without it more people will die \u2014 as a direct consequence of the violence, but also because of the direct attack on people\u2019s health, well-being and ability to cope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even a brief pause in fighting last November, for example, allowed WFP and partners to double distribution points and bring in four times more aid than we would have in an average week of conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get the entire world behind the fact these IPC results are so heinous, so shocking,\u201d Hollingworth says. \u201cWe need to get the parties to this conflict and the international community to believe that it\u2019s doable to avert this \u2014 and to enable us to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite hopes of\u00a0a ceasefire, at best 200 trucks with humanitarian supplies arrive daily in the Strip\u2014when at least 300 are required. Long lines of vehicles remain backed up at the two Gaza border crossings, Rafah and Kerem Shalom, that remain open. While airdrops, and now the first maritime shipment, have delivered lifesaving food, the hunger crisis dwarfs their capacity.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, a convoy of 18 WFP trucks transported about 270 tons of wheat flour and canned food to Gaza City. While this delivery marks progress, it falls far short of meeting the needs of the enclave\u2019s population. Indeed, it will only sustain them for a few days at best.<\/p>\n

\"In

Many Gazans have been displaced by the war multiple times. The Â鶹APP warns Gaza\u2019s humanitarian crisis risks worsening if Israeli ground forces move into Rafah, forcing displaced people to flee once again. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating. We need a tsunami of aid, not a trickle,\u201d Hollingworth says. \u201cBut at this point any effort to bring in more assistance is welcome. Because the level of need is so great, we need approvals to provide massive and nonstop deliveries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollingworth spoke from Gaza\u2019s southern city of Rafah, where he has been overseeing operations for over a week. He has been sharing a room and bare-bones facilities with WFP\u2019s Gaza staff who\u2014like the rest of the population\u2014have lost homes, relatives and friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re worried about their kids, their parents and neighbors who may be trapped in some areas,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd every day, they\u2019re part of this humanitarian response. It\u2019s remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Risk of bigger fallout<\/h3>\n

A veteran of hunger emergencies, including in Ukraine, South Sudan and Syria, Hollingworth is no stranger to suffering. It is everywhere in Gaza \u2014 where hundreds of thousands of people have endured a winter of rain, cold and bombs crowded in squalid tent camps.<\/p>\n

\"In

A woman and girl pick their way through the mud in a makeshift tent camp. Along with intense hunger, many Gazans have endured a winter of cold and bombs. Photo: WFP\/Jaber Badwan<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cLaughter is not something you hear in Gaza these days,\u201d he says. \u201cYou hear shellfire and mortar fire, rocket fire and small arms fire. You hear people crying. You see them crying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a small place and people are stuck here,\u201d Hollingworth adds. \u201cThey feel the world isn\u2019t responding, that the world doesn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Â鶹APP warns Gaza\u2019s humanitarian crisis risks worsening if Israeli ground forces move into Rafah and compel displaced people to flee again\u2014 or put those who stay in further peril.<\/p>\n

It also means more people will face imminent famine, Hollingworth says. \u201cIt will shatter our current, albeit meagre, ability to bring in food aid and other assistance through the only corridors we currently have,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Hollingworth has seen some Gazans find courage and strength from what many describe as the worst humanitarian crisis in decades. But desperation is on the rise. Recent weeks have seen Gazans risking violence in their search for food and other assistance. Lawlessness is mounting.<\/p>\n

\"Volunteers

Volunteers distribute WFP food to hungry people at a market in Der Albalah, Gaza. Despite widespread suffering, some Gazans are somehow finding strength from the crisis. But others may be losing hope. Photo: WFP\/Ali Jadallah<\/p><\/div>\n

In dire situations, \u201chope is the last thing to go, and that’s the kind of situation that people are facing now,\u201d Hollingworth says. \u201cIt can lead to people being defeated, giving up and dying. And it can certainly make people believe there is nothing else left to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nearby West Bank is feeling the fallout of Gaza\u2019s war, with anger, violence and hunger on the rise. Hollingworth points to past crises \u2014 in Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan or Somalia, for example \u2014 where the same toxic ingredients helped fuel regional instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a moral requirement for us to do something, when we see so many innocent people suffering,\u201d he says. \u201cYou’ve got to believe that by shouting on their behalf that somebody will hear and take action.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 March 2024 Nearly six months into war, half the enclave\u2019s population faces catastrophic food insecurity By: Elizabeth Bryant Children crying out from hunger and dying of malnutrition. People risking gunfire to reach aid convoys, and surviving on animal fodder and soup made from leaves and grass. Levels of hopelessness and food insecurity that could […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1323,2929,6926],"document-source":[6974,2109],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2517,1769,1945,2265,2033,2057,2005,2533,6870,6871],"entity":[],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-294382","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-report","document-category-situation-report","document-category-stories","document-source-integrated-food-security-phase-classification-ipc","document-source-world-food-programme-wfp","document-subject-access-and-movement","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-ceasefire","document-subject-children","document-subject-food","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-health","document-subject-hunger","document-subject-malnutrition","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299768,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/294382\/revisions\/299768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=294382"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=294382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}