UNICEF says more Gaza children 'dying slowly' as report warns of imminent famine

UNICEF regional director for West Asia and North Africa has warned that more children in Gaza will die due to an “impending famine” as Israel continues to impede aid operations.

Adele Khodr urged Israel to open all border crossings to allow aid into the Gaza Strip citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) recent report warning of an “imminent famine” in Gaza.

“The IPC findings on Gaza confirm what we have been warning about of impending famine for months now. The world’s inaction is shocking as more children succumb to a slow death. All border crossings must open now to allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid,” she wrote in a social media post.

The IPC, a group that includes the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization, warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza with people suffering “catastrophic levels of hunger.”

It said 1.1 million people, half of Gaza, experience catastrophic food insecurity.

According to the IPC “virtually all households are skipping meals every day and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat.”

In two-thirds of households in northern Gaza, the report said, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days. In the southern governorates, this applies to one-third of the households.

In a statement published on Monday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power said the IPC report is a “reality” for Gazans.

Power added that there have been only two Famine declarations in the twenty-first century, which marks a truly tragic milestone.

“The catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition described in the IPC report should be unimaginable in the current era, but for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, this is the reality,” Power said.

Martin Griffiths, the UN's top relief coordinator, said on X that “the international community should hang its head in shame for failing to stop [the famine].”

“We know that once a famine is declared, it is way too late.”

UNRWA’s head, Philippe Lazzarini, also expressed his disappointment as he was refused entry into Gaza, where he was scheduled to enhance the humanitarian response.

“This man-made starvation under our watch is a stain on our collective humanity,” Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

“Too much time was wasted, all land crossings must open now. Famine can be averted with political will.”

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Jeremy Konyndyk, head of Refugees International and a former Biden administration official said: “In my 25 years as a humanitarian, this may be, pound for pound, the grimmest analysis I have ever seen.”

“The famine is now starting. The only question at this point is how much more momentum it will be allowed to develop,” Konyndyk said.

The Israeli government has been “intentionally” denying entry of both food and humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, using starvation as a weapon of war.

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