Conditions in North Gaza as bad or worse than in Gaza governorate: IPC
According to the IPC report that has confirmed a famine in the Gaza governorate, conditions in the North Gaza governorate, which includes cities like Beit Hanoon and Jabalia, are estimated to be just as severe or even worse.
But the IPC said it was unable to provide a food security classification for North Gaza due to limited data, highlighting an urgent need for access and assessments in the area.
The body said it had also not carried out an analysis of Rafah governorate, where Israeli military operations have caused widespread devastation, “given indications that it is largely depopulated”.
The IPC snapshot said that as of August 15, more than 281,000 people in Gaza governorate – representing 30 percent of the population – are experiencing Phase 5 levels of food insecurity, the highest rating.
More than 468,000 people, or 50 percent of the governorate’s population, were classified as experiencing Phase 4, or emergency levels.
Conditions are expected to worsen with famine conditions projected to expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September.
Hamas says UN’s confirmation of famine in Gaza ‘important’ even if ‘very late’
The Palestinian group says confirmation of the famine taking place in Gaza by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) “important”, despite it coming “very late after long months of warnings”.
“We have repeatedly warned that the policies of blockade, systematic starvation, and the denial of food, medicine, and water to our people constitute a full-fledged genocide. Today, UN reports confirm to the entire world the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe our people are experiencing,” it said in a statement on Telegram.
“The occupation’s criminal denial of this documented fact, and its false claims that there is no famine in Gaza, reveal a criminal mentality that deliberately lies to cover up the murder by starvation practiced against children, women, and the sick, in flagrant defiance of all international laws and norms,” it added.
The group says the international community “bears an urgent legal and moral responsibility to stop crimes against humanity and save more than two million people facing genocide, starvation, and the systematic destruction of all necessities of life”.
Hamas said the report must be followed up with:
- Immediate action by the United Nations and the Security Council to stop the war and lift the blockade.
- Unrestricted opening of the crossings for the urgent and sustained entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.
- Holding the occupation legally accountable for its use of starvation as a weapon of war, as it constitutes a war crime and genocide under international law.
