Very sick and very tired': the reality of famine for Gaza's most vulnerable

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found three key thresholds for a famine in Gaza City. The declaration indicates severe food insecurity and malnutrition affecting an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 vulnerable residents. Only four famines have been declared by the IPC since 2004, most recently in Sudan. The situation is described as man-made and reversible if a ceasefire is implemented and essential food supplies and basic services are restored immediately. Only a fraction of needed aid is entering the territory. Many displaced people report minimal, unbalanced meals and lack of cooking fuel, with chronic illness compounding risk.

In the overcrowded, rubble strewn streets of Gaza City, there was little surprise at the announcement that UN-backed experts believed the scenes of desperation could now be formally described as a famine. This is something we have been saying for months now, and we have witnessed this and we have been living this and suffering this. We feel very powerless and very sick and very tired, said Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO Network, who has been in Gaza City throughout the 22-month war.

On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a globally recognised organisation that classifies the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, found that three key thresholds for a declaration of famine had been met in the once bustling commercial and administrative hub. Only four famines have been declared by the IPC since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year. This famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed, the report said. It warned of an exponential increase in deaths if a ceasefire is not implemented and essential food supplies and basic services are not restored immediately.

I have nothing to cook and no money to buy firewood for cooking. We eat a little food in the morning to stop our hunger and a little more at night. I eat just some za'atar [spice mix], cheese or just salt with bread, no vegetables, nothing cooked, said Sabah Antaiz, 55, who was displaced from the Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City by recent Israeli offensives.

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