UN and international organisations have warned of a worsening hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli aggression enters its tenth month, amid growing calls to open safe corridors for delivering aid to the besieged population.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated that more than half of Gaza’s population suffers from severe food insecurity, and that access to food has become nearly impossible in most areas, especially in the northern part of the Strip.
FAO explained that the continuation of fighting, the targeting of agricultural lands and infrastructure, and the prevention of supply entry have all exacerbated the deterioration of livelihoods, threatening an imminent famine.
The World Food Programme confirmed that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are on the brink of famine, pointing out that families are forced to survive on very limited food, with many of them eating grass, animal feed, and spoiled canned goods.
The programme added that children, pregnant women, and the elderly are the most affected groups, warning that their weakened health conditions make them vulnerable to any further delay in food aid delivery.
For its part, Save the Children warned that children in Gaza are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, noting that a large number of them now face serious health risks due to the lack of food and clean water.
The organisation added that children’s bodies are weakening rapidly due to prolonged deprivation, and that many are now unable to walk or speak due to exhaustion and nutritional deficiencies.
In the same context, relief organisations have called for the immediate opening of safe humanitarian corridors and allowing the entry of aid without obstacles — including food, medicine, and fuel — to ensure the minimum requirements for civilian survival.
These organisations stressed that the delay in bringing in aid amounts to the use of starvation as a weapon of war, which constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and may represent a war crime.
Gaza is suffering under a suffocating siege that has destroyed the food system, caused the collapse of agriculture, and eliminated access to markets, amid continued military operations that hinder aid distribution and threaten the lives of humanitarian workers.
