Famine Imminent in Northern Gaza, Says UN-Backed Report

Boys sit with empty pots as displaced Palestinians queue for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Boys sit with empty pots as displaced Palestinians queue for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Famine Imminent in Northern Gaza, Says UN-Backed Report

Boys sit with empty pots as displaced Palestinians queue for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Boys sit with empty pots as displaced Palestinians queue for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Famine is imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, a UN-backed report said on Monday, after more than five months of war which have shattered the Palestinian territory and cut off supplies.

Malnutrition and food insecurity have probably exceeded famine levels in Gaza's north, and hunger-linked death rates were likely to do so soon, the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said.

The assessment - a scale used by UN agencies, regional bodies and aid groups that sets the global standard on measuring food crises - comes amid global pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave of 2.3 million people.

Some 300,000 have been cut off by fighting in the north.

The European Union accused Israel on Monday of provoking famine and using starvation as a weapon of war - claims that Israel rejects, saying it does not target civilians and is only interested in eliminating the Hamas movement.

The IPC uses a complex set of technical criteria. Its most extreme warning is Phase 5, which has two levels, catastrophe and famine.

Famine is assessed as at least 20% of the population suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease.

In northern Gaza, "the upward trend in non-trauma mortality is also expected to accelerate, resulting in all famine thresholds likely to be passed imminently," the IPC said.

"The window is shutting, and it is shutting very, very fast," Arif Husain, chief economist of the World Food Program, told Reuters.

The study said the number of people projected to experience "catastrophic hunger" across the besieged enclave between now and mid-July had nearly doubled to more than 1.1 million, or about half the population, since the IPC last reported in December, when there was already record hunger.

Under a worst case scenario, central and southern Gaza also face a risk of famine by July, the IPC said.

Skipping meals

Famine has been declared just twice in the past 13 years: in parts of Somalia in 2011 and in parts of South Sudan in 2017.

Some humanitarians voice frustration with the criteria, since assessing famine thresholds can be particularly difficult in a war zone due to a lack of access and reliable data.

Gaza health authorities have reported children dying of malnutrition or dehydration, but UN officials say the health system has basically collapsed and the situation is hard to monitor.

"It's impossible to find the data to meet their criteria in northern Gaza as people aren't dying in hospital so it's unrecorded," said one aid worker who asked not to be named.

The IPC said that because of a lack of aid, almost all households were skipping meals every day and adults were reducing their meals so children could eat.

In northern Gaza, in nearly two thirds of households, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days, it added. In southern areas, that applied to one third of the households.

The IPC analysis said famine could still be avoided if Israel and Hamas stop fighting and aid organizations gain increased access.

Israel has said it plans to assault Rafah, the southern Gaza city bordering Egypt, to root out Hamas fighters, but it is also involved in mediation talks about a possible truce.

"We must act and we must act now," said Husain. "When famine happens, people have already starved, children are already wasted, and many, many, many lives are already lost." 



Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Must Fully Withdraw from Lebanon by February 18

 A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Must Fully Withdraw from Lebanon by February 18

 A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Hamam shows smoke rising after an explosion during an Israeli army operation in the village of Kfar Shouba near the border on February 16, 2024. (AFP)

The head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Sunday that Israeli troops must withdraw from Lebanese territory in full by a February 18 deadline, saying it had "no pretext" to maintain a military presence in any post in southern Lebanon.

Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October.

That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel's military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week.

In a recorded televised speech, Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem said: "Israel must withdraw completely on Feb. 18, it has no pretext, no five points or other details... this is the agreement."

Qassem said any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after February 18 would be considered an occupying force.

"Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with," Qassem said, without explicitly threatening that his group would resume attacks against Israel.

Israel's public broadcaster said on Wednesday the US had authorized a "long term" Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon.

During the broadcast of Qassem's speech, at least three Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel's military said it conducted strikes after identifying Hezbollah activity at sites containing rocket launchers and other weapons.

Qassem also called on the Lebanese government to reconsider its ban on Iranian flights landing in Beirut.

Lebanese authorities banned the flights from landing until February 18 following Israeli accusations that Tehran was using civilian aircraft to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm Hezbollah.

The decision stranded dozens of Lebanese nationals in Iran, where they had been on a religious pilgrimage with plans to return via Iran's Mahan Air. Lebanon sent two of its own planes to retrieve them, but Iran barred them from landing in Tehran.

Hezbollah organized a protest outside Beirut airport on Saturday, where its supporters were tear gassed by Lebanese troops.

Qassem described Lebanon's ban on Iranian planes as "the implementation of an Israeli order".

"Let the plane land and we will see what Israel will do," he said.