Crime is Way Up in Gaza: US-Funded Hunger Monitor Concurs With UN-Backed IPC That Famine Is Occurring in Gaza

A US government-funded hunger monitor has concurred with the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) that famine is taking place in the Gaza Strip.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), which has historically been funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), issued a report on August 22, the same day as the IPC report, stating that famine is ongoing in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City.

The FEWS Net and IPC reports said that famine is also likely occurring in the North Gaza Governorate and that the situation may even be worse there, but that it couldn’t be officially confirmed due to the lack of data. The report said that famine is projected to begin in the Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah Governorates by the end of September unless immediate action is taken.

“FEWS NET’s classification of current or projected Famine (IPC Phase 5) in three governorates was reached jointly with the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) partnership and independently reviewed by the Famine Review Committee (FRC),” FEWS Net said in its report.

The FEWS Net report also made clear that Israel was responsible for the famine in northern Gaza and cited the Israeli government’s own data to say that no food was allowed into the area from March to May. “After 22 months of war, repeated mass displacements, the destruction of nearly all essential infrastructure, and extreme restrictions on the entry of food, northern Gazans have long exhausted their coping capacity,” Fews Net said.

The US-funded hunger monitor also said that Israel’s plans to take over Gaza City will only make the situation worse. “The confinement of the population, density of overcrowding amid scarce shelter, and increasing strain on extremely limited humanitarian and healthcare services are all expected to worsen in the lead-up to Israel’s plan to forcibly displace the entire population of Gaza City by October,” FEWS Net said. [MORE]