World Bank Report Says Famine Is Imminent in Northern Gaza Strip

 Palestinians inspect the rubble following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the rubble following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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World Bank Report Says Famine Is Imminent in Northern Gaza Strip

 Palestinians inspect the rubble following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the rubble following overnight Israeli bombardment which hit the al-Habash family home at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on March 20, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Famine is imminent for Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to affect adults and children between now and May, according to a World Bank food security report released on Wednesday.

“The situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels,” the report warned.

Roughly 1.11 million people, or half of the Gaza Strip’s population, are in Phase 5 of the IPC Food Insecurity Scale — known as the “Catastrophe Phase” of extreme food shortage and unable to meet basic needs.

Virtually all households skip meals daily and a significant portion of children under two are suffering from acute malnutrition, the report states.

The report recommends “restoring humanitarian access, curbing hostilities, and ensuring the safe delivery of aid to the population in need.”

Wednesday's report echoes similar findings released Monday in a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, an agency that monitors hunger globally.



World Food Program Condemns Israeli Attack on Its Gaza Convoy

People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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World Food Program Condemns Israeli Attack on Its Gaza Convoy

People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
People and first responders inspect the rubble of a collapsed residential building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Saraya area in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on January 4, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

The UN World Food Program said on Monday that Israeli forces had opened fire on one of its convoys in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza in what it called a "horrifying incident".

The agency said the convoy of three vehicles carrying eight staff members from central Gaza to Gaza City in the north was struck by 16 bullets near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on Sunday, causing no injuries but immobilizing the convoy.

The vehicles were clearly marked and had received prior security clearances from Israeli authorities, a WFP statement said.

"The World Food Program (WFP) strongly condemns the horrifying incident on January 5," it said.

"This unacceptable event is just the latest example of the complex and dangerous working environment that WFP and other agencies are operating in today," WFP said, calling for improvements in security conditions to allow aid to continue.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

International aid agencies working to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have frequently accused Israeli forces of hampering or threatening their operations amid Israel's campaign to wipe out Hamas fighters.