The world’s leading authority on food insecurity said Thursday that the situation in Gaza had improved since famine was declared in parts of the Palestinian territory last year, but warned that conditions are still at crisis levels.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said a reduction in fighting and the fact that Israel was allowing more aid into Gaza had a “significant impact, albeit unevenly across areas.”
But it said most families in the war-battered enclave still weren't getting nearly enough to eat.
“Even small disruptions to humanitarian access could rapidly reverse recent gains,” the report warned.
Covering a period of April through June, the IPC report shows that although conditions have markedly improved since last year, there’s no immediate prospect of pulling Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians out of this crisis.
Israel’s military controls more than half of Gaza, leaving Palestinians confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged urban neighborhoods.
Failing sewage systems have contributed to routine disease outbreaks and left residents with inconsistent access to basic services.
The lines at charity kitchens remain long and prices remain elevated, according to Palestinians in the territory and data from the Gaza Chamber of Commerce.
“The situation is very tragic,” said Rana Abu Bakr, a displaced mother who says her family relies on a charity kitchen in Khan Younis each day.
Other than that, she said, “There’s no water, no food, nothing to drink. Prices are exorbitant.”
For children, living such a long time without enough food has contributed to a rise in reported cases of “stunting,” a condition where impaired growth causes lifelong consequences, the IPC report said.
“Many children are still going hungry, and some children may never fully recover from prolonged lack of proper nutrition,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
Israeli strikes and shelling have also killed more than 1,185 people since last October’s agreement, according to the territory’s health ministry.
More aid has helped the food crisis in Gaza, but not ended it
The IPC is a panel of food security experts that the United Nations and aid agencies rely on. It measures things like how many households experience extreme food shortages, how many young children show bodily signs of malnutrition and how many people are dying from starvation.
It has declared famines in other places, including parts of Sudan and Somalia. But the declaration last August of famine in parts of Gaza was its first in the Middle East.
More than 200,000 residents were experiencing the higher Phase 4 “emergency” conditions
IPC uses five phases to classify food insecurity. Last summer, it confirmed the most severe classification — famine — in Gaza Governorate, which covers Gaza City.
Thursday’s report classified all five governorates in the territory as now being in Phase 3 “crisis” conditions. It estimated that more than 200,000 residents were experiencing the higher Phase 4 “emergency” conditions.
Although acute food insecurity — when households can't get enough food to survive — remains at crisis levels, the authority said acute malnutrition — the physical effects of not eating enough — declined to levels classified as acceptable, despite last year’s warnings.
