UN Warns of Record Rates of Hunger in Syria

Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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UN Warns of Record Rates of Hunger in Syria

Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

The World Food Programme warned on Friday that hunger rates in Syria have soared to record highs after more than a decade of devastating conflict.

A brutal war that triggered years of economic crisis and damaged vital infrastructure has put 2.9 million at risk of sliding into hunger, while another 12 million do not know where their next meal is coming from, the UN agency said.

"Hunger soars to 12-year high in Syria," as 70 percent of the population might soon be "unable to put food on the table for their families," the statement said.

"Syria now has the sixth highest number of food insecure people in the world," the WFP added, with food prices increasing nearly 12-fold in three years.

Child and maternal malnutrition are also "increasing at a speed never seen before," in more than a decade of war,” Agence France Presse quoted the statement as saying.

If the international community does not step up to help Syrians, it risks facing "another wave of mass migration," said WFP executive director David Beasley during a visit to Syria this week.

"Is that what the international community wants?" he asked, urging donor countries to redouble efforts to "avert this looming catastrophe".

The UN estimates 90 percent of the 18 million people in Syria are living in poverty, with the economy hit by conflict, drought, cholera and the Covid pandemic as well as the fallout from the financial crash in Lebanon.



Palestinian Authority Calls on US to Prevent Israel from Occupying Gaza

Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
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Palestinian Authority Calls on US to Prevent Israel from Occupying Gaza

Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians carry bags of flour near a food distribution point in Zikim, northern Gaza Strip, 08 August 2025. (EPA)

The Palestinian Authority called on Friday the American administration to prevent Israel from occupying the Gaza Strip, which would displace nearly a million Palestinians from Gaza City.

Israel said Friday it will intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, stirring fears for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and renewing international pressure for an end to the conflict.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The timing of another major ground operation is unclear. It will likely require mobilizing thousands of troops and forcibly evacuating civilians, almost certainly worsening Gaza's humanitarian crisis.

The UN Security Council announced an emergency meeting on Israel's plans was rescheduled to Sunday after originally being scheduled on Saturday.

Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said: “We call on the international community, specifically the American administration, to assume its responsibility and stop the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.”

The move, he told Reuters, “will not bring security, peace or stability to anyone.”

“We strongly condemn the Israeli government decision to occupy Gaza, which means the continued displacement of the people and more massacres and destruction,” he added.

Hamas rejected Israel’s plans. “Expanding of aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park,” the group said in a statement.