A new report shows famine is "imminent" in the Gaza Strip, where nearly half of residents are on the brink of starvation.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released Monday, relentless hostilities and severely restricted humanitarian access have inflicted "catastrophic" levels of food insecurity on the population of the Gaza Strip.
In northern Gaza, where around 300,000 people remain trapped, famine is expected to arrive between now and May. In central and southern Gaza, the report warns that famine could occur by July.
Famine is defined by the IPC as "extreme deprivation of food" in which "starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition are or will likely be evident." The agency has only classified a famine twice since its founding in 2004 — first in Somalia in 2011 and in South Sudan in 2017, according to NPR.
The report shows the entire population in the Gaza Strip -- 2.23 million -- is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. More than half of the population has completely exhausted their food supplies and is facing catastrophic hunger.
The report noted that extremely limited humanitarian access to and within the Gaza Strip continues to impede the safe and equitable delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance. But there could be hope. The report indicates famine – even in northern Gaza – can be halted if full access is facilitated for aid organizations to provide food, water, nutrition products, medicines, health and sanitation services. For this to be possible, a humanitarian ceasefire is necessary, according to the report.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the crisis "an appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians."
"This is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system – anywhere, anytime," Guterres said in a statement. "This is an entirely man-made disaster — and the report makes clear that it can be halted. [The] report is Exhibit A for the need for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire."
According to the U.N. World Food Programme, simply addressing the basic food needs will require at least 300 trucks to enter Gaza every day and distribute food, especially in the north. WFP has only managed to take nine convoys to the north since the start of the year.
"People in Gaza are starving to death right now. The speed at which this man-made hunger and malnutrition crisis has ripped through Gaza is terrifying," WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement. "There is a very small window left to prevent an outright famine and to do that we need immediate and full access to the north. If we wait until famine has been declared, it's too late. Thousands more will be dead."
Dispatching aid to the north of Gaza needs day-to-day approvals from Israeli authorities. During long waits at the checkpoint, truck convoys face looting and are frequently turned back -- and even if they do get through, there is a high risk of more looting along the difficult route, according to WFP.
Humanitarian organizations are calling on Israel to provide more entry points and sustained road access into Gaza to bring in food aid and roll out a massive relief operation reaching all the communities in need.