The entire 2.2 million population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger, with 576,600 individuals at catastrophic hunger and starvation due to insufficient food entering the territory since the war began on October 7.
This came in a new report released by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) — which is produced in collaboration with global agencies, including World Food Program (WFP), United Nation (UN).
The report said that 26 percent of Gazans, which is about 576,600 people, have “exhausted their food supplies and coping capacities and face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation.”
“These are not just numbers – there are individual children, women and men behind these alarming statistics,” said UN World Food Programme Chief Economist Arif Husain.
The IPC warns of a potential famine within six months if the current conflict and limited humanitarian access persist.
WFP food security experts had already established that Gazans have exhausted resources, collapsed livelihoods, destroyed bakeries, empty shops, and families struggle to find food.
“WFP has warned of this coming catastrophe for weeks. Tragically, without the safe, consistent access we have been calling for, the situation is desperate, and no one in Gaza is safe from starvation.” said WFP’s Executive Director Cindy McCain.
“We cannot stand by and watch people starve. Humanitarian access is needed now for supplies to flow into and throughout Gaza and for civilians to safely receive life-saving aid,” said McCain.
“More than anything, what is needed now is peace. WFP reiterates the call for a humanitarian ceasefire – the world must come together now to save lives,” he added.
The report underscored the need for increased emergency food and multi-sectoral assistance to prevent widespread deaths.
4,655 Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces in West Bank since Oct 7
Israeli occupation forces have arrested 4,655 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the Israel and Hamas war on October 7.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a joint statement on Thursday, that the arrests were made in the cities of Nablus, Tulkarm, Ramallah, and al-Khalil across the occupied West Bank.
The arrests were characterized by harassment, beatings, threats against detainees and their families, as well as acts of sabotage and destruction in Palestinian homes.
Since the outbreak of the devastating war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Israeli army has intensified its military operations in the West Bank and increased the pace of incursions and raids into towns and camps, resulting in numerous casualties and detainees.
At least 20,057 Palestinians in Gaza Strip have been killed and 53,320 injured in Israeli attacks since October 7, according to the ministry of health in Gaza.
The death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel is estimated to be around 1,140.
