Gazans will face a high risk of food insecurity and even starvation over the next six weeks, according to a report by the United Nations Hunger Monitoring System released in Rome on Thursday.
• Also read: Hamas says Israel's goal to destroy it is 'doomed'
• Also read: Gaza: Four dead in an Israeli attack on a border crossing, including its director
The United Nations' five-tier food insecurity classification system, known as IPC, predicts in its “most likely scenario” that by February 7, “the entire population of the Gaza Strip (around 2.2 million people)” will be in a situation of “hunger.” “It will be a crisis or worse.”
“This is the highest proportion of people experiencing high levels of food insecurity that the IPC system has ever identified for a specific region or country,” the report said.
The IPC system rates hunger in levels from one to five. The report warns that by February 7, about half of Gaza's population is expected to be in the “emergency phase,” which involves very high levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.
And “at least one in four families”, i.e. more than half a million people, will be confronted with “phase 5”, i.e. catastrophic conditions.
The international NGO CARE described these figures as “alarming”.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas gunmen invaded Israel on October 7, killing about 1,140 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping 250, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israelis.
Israel responded with an intensive airstrike campaign and a major ground offensive. According to Hamas, at least 20,000 people died, including 8,000 children and 6,200 women.