A quarter of Gaza’s population is one step from famine and aid trucks are looted, UN says
- UN officials paint a dire picture of war-torn Gaza where people are on the verge of starvation
- Israel has been carrying out a military campaign in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack
At least one quarter of Gaza’s population – 576,000 people – are one step away from famine and virtually the entire population desperately needs food resulting in aid trucks being shot at, looted and overwhelmed by hungry people, top UN officials said on Tuesday.
The officials from the UN humanitarian office and the UN’s food and agriculture organisations painted a dire picture of all 2.3 million people in Gaza facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, and civil order breaking down especially in the north where food and other humanitarian supplies are scarce.
And as grim as the picture is today, UN humanitarian coordinator Ramesh Ramasingham told the UN Security Council that “there is every possibility for further deterioration”.
He said that in addition to a quarter of Gaza’s population close to famine, one in six children under the age of two in northern Gaza are suffering from “acute malnutrition and wasting”, where the body becomes emaciated.
Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, said that is “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world”.
