By Lena Masri
(Reuters) – The entire Gaza Strip remains at risk of famine and is experiencing emergency levels of hunger, with intense Israeli military operations adding to concerns and hampering humanitarian access, a global monitor said on Thursday.
About 1.84 million people across the Palestinian territory are living through high levels of acute food insecurity, including nearly 133,000 people experiencing the most severe, or “catastrophic”, levels, according to an analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
That is down from roughly 343,000 people experiencing catastrophic hunger at the time of the last update in June, but the number was expected to double in coming months, the IPC said.
The IPC noted an increase in food entering Gaza since May, but said humanitarian access began shrinking again in September.
Israel’s latest evacuation orders “have significantly disrupted humanitarian operations, and repeated displacements have steadily worn-down people’s ability to cope and access food, water and medicine, deepening the vulnerability of entire communities,” the IPC said in a summary of the analysis shared ahead of publication.
“The risk of Famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip. Given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialize,” the summary said.
Acute malnutrition was at serious levels and 10 times higher than before the conflict, the IPC said. An estimated 60,000 cases of acute malnutrition among young children were expected between September 2024 and August 2025, according to the IPC.
The new analysis was conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4 and does not reflect the most recent developments on the ground.
For the past two weeks, the Israeli military has been carrying out an offensive against Hamas-militants in Jabalia in northern Gaza and appears to be cutting off the north completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip, the United Nations human rights office said on Monday.
No food aid entered northern Gaza from Oct. 2 to Oct. 15, when a “trickle” was allowed in, and all essential supplies for survival were running out, the U.N.’s humanitarian agency said on Wednesday. There was barely any food left to distribute, and most bakeries would be forced to shut down within days without additional fuel, it said.
Israel says it does not prevent the entry of humanitarian aid.
Palestinian health officials have called for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that are running out of food and medicine and have come close to collapse as Israeli troops have cut off the area.
The IPC is an initiative involving U.N. agencies, national governments and aid groups that sets the global standard on measuring food crises.
Its most extreme warning is Phase 5, which has two levels, catastrophe and famine.
Famine can be declared if at least 20% of the population in an area are suffering extreme food shortages, with at least 30% of children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
(Reporting by Lena Masri; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Angus MacSwan)
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