The IPC’s findings that a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza are starving should mark an urgent turning point in this war

The declaration on Friday of widespread famine in Gaza by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) should mark a turning point in the war. The IPC, which represents a fastidious survey of available data, is regarded as the international gold standard in nutritional crises.

Long-criticised by humanitarians in other emergencies for its overabundance of caution, the IPC’s declaration of Level 5 – “catastrophic” hunger – in Gaza is a significant moment. Famine, under the IPC’s exacting criteria, requires three critical thresholds to be passed: extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths, all of which are now visible in Gaza.

A quarter of all Palestinians in Gaza are starving – more than 500,000 people – with that number expected to rise to more than 640,000 within six weeks.

  • wampus@lemmy.caEnglish
    15·
    9 days ago

    “should” mark a turning point in the war. But likely won’t.

    For most people around the world, I think it’s been clear that what Israel’s doing in Gaza is inhumane for quite a while now. But directly challenging the Israeli government risks the ire of the United States. We’ve watched them sanction UN officials for calling out the situation in Gaza. We’ve seen them jack up tariffs on their closest allies at the mere hint of recognising palestine’s plight. There’s basically no political will to take action, and definitely not enough to take action on a timeline that’ll matter. I mean, most of the USA is shrugging as Trump continues down a path of fascism; I can’t imagine them shrugging at that, yet taking up the cause of people in Gaza.