Approximately 300,000 people remain trapped in northern Gaza, facing heightened susceptibility to disease due to severe hunger.
Residents in northern Gaza are barely surviving on an average of 245 calories per day, according to a statement released by the international NGO Oxfam.
This intake represents less than 12 percent of an adult’s daily caloric needs and doesn’t consider access to proper nutrition, according to the statement.
The scarcity of fruits and vegetables, coupled with extreme price hikes, has made them unattainable for most. Additionally, specialized nutrition products and malnutrition treatment centers are scarce or inaccessible, OXFAM noted.
“Before the war, we were in good health and had strong bodies. Now, looking at my children and myself, we have lost so much weight since we do not eat any proper food, we are trying to eat whatever we find – edible wild plants or herbs daily just to survive,” a mother trapped in northern Gaza told Oxfam.
Approximately 300,000 people remain trapped in this area, facing heightened susceptibility to disease due to severe hunger.
The situation is compounded by Israel’s extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and water and sanitation services in Gaza.
“Israel is making deliberate choices to starve civilians,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.
“Imagine what it is like, not only to be trying to survive on 245 calories day in, day out, but also having to watch your children or elderly relatives do the same. All whilst displaced, with little to no access to clean water or a toilet, knowing most medical support has gone and under the constant threat of drones and bombs.”
Oxfam’s analysis of the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data for the Gaza Strip reveals alarming figures. Since last October, total food deliveries to the entire population of Gaza, approximately 2.2 million people, have only provided 41% of the daily calories needed per person.
The IPC findings underscore the imminent threat of famine in northern Gaza, with nearly the entire population experiencing extreme hunger. Shockingly, 1.1 million people are now facing catastrophic food insecurity.
These statistics paint a bleak picture of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, highlighting the urgent need for immediate and substantial intervention to address food shortages and prevent widespread starvation.
‘No Suhoor, Iftaar Meals’ – 2,000 Medical Staff in Northern Gaza Face Starvation
“Israel is ignoring both the International Court of Justice order to prevent genocide and UN Security Council resolutions. Only last week the ICJ ordered new provisional measures, stating famine is no longer looming, but ‘setting in’ in Gaza,” Behar said, adding that the international community must stop arming Israel and impose an immediate ceasefire.
“Only then can we stop this horrifying carnage for the 2.2 million people who have endured six months of suffering. Israel cannot weaponize starvation any longer,” according to the Oxfam official.
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 33,037 Palestinians have been killed, and 75,668 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire.’
(PC, Anadolu)
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