Reacting to the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) report published today confirming a famine in Gaza Governorate which is predicted to expand to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September, Oxfam’s Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator, Mahmoud Alsaqqa said:
“The famine in Gaza is entirely driven by Israel’s near-total blockade on food and vital aid, the horrifying consequence of Israel’s violence, and its use of starvation as a weapon of war. This is what our staff and partners have been witnessing for months – people in the Gaza Strip being deliberately starved, relentlessly bombarded and forcefully displaced. All part of Israel’s genocide.
“Mothers are now too malnourished to nurse their starving babies. People are being forced to walk miles across treacherous terrain to find food, only to be shot, at militarized distribution centres. Elderly under fire are too weak to flee, illustrating an enforced humanitarian-system collapse and repeated crimes against humanity.
“Despite warnings in July that famine was imminent, Israel has continued to deprive Palestinians of food, denying almost every request from even long-established humanitarian agencies operating in Gaza, preventing them from delivering vital food and aid that could have stemmed hunger, malnutrition and disease.
“Oxfam alone has more than $2.5m worth of life-saving aid, including high-calorie food packages – now sitting in warehouses outside Gaza. Israeli authorities have rejected all at a time when it is needed more than ever.
“The Government of Israel is continuing its campaign of relentless bombing and implementing a policy choice of starving out people in areas where famine is now classified, while persisting with plans to forcibly displace the starving population of Gaza City.
“Other governments that could have done more to stop Israel, are complicit in enabling genocide and war crimes by their silence, inaction and the continuation of many to supply Israel with arms.
“This famine is entirely man-made, and it can be halted. Oxfam calls for an immediate ceasefire, the full lifting of the blockade, and urgent humanitarian aid at scale through all crossings, including those to the north.”
Note to Editors:
- Read the IPC’s Special Snapshot on Gaza published today.
- The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative multi-partner initiative of 19 organisations, including Oxfam, and intergovernmental institutions. The IPC initiative provides food security and nutrition analysis to inform decision-making.
- Read how famine is measured.
- This IPC assessment was done between 1 and 30 July. The figures are likely an underestimate of the situation now.
- According to the UN (20 Aug), malnutrition has tripled across the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire collapsed. And in Gaza City, acute malnutrition has now reached 28.5 per cent, meaning more than one in four children in Gaza City is now considered malnourished.
- Starvation as a weapon of war being used against Gaza civilians, Oxfam press release, 25 October 2023.
Contact information:
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact media@oxfam.org.nz