One in two residents of the Gaza Strip is facing a catastrophic food shortage, particularly in the northern part of the enclave where famine will be a reality in a month if urgent measures are not taken, the relevant United Nations agencies have warned.

More than 1.1 million people in Gaza face a catastrophic hunger situation, on the brink of famine, the highest number ever recorded by the UN, based on a detailed report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification ( IPC)) published today.

“The international community should be ashamed of itself for failing to stop” the impending famine, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths wrote in X.

In the latest IPC report published in December, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that famine is “likely” to occur by the end of May in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. They now estimate that it will occur “any time between now and May” if nothing is done to deal with it.

The assessment is particularly critical for the residents of the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. “Without changes in access to humanitarian aid, famine is coming,” warns Food and Agriculture Organization deputy director-general Bert Beckdol. “It is possible that famine is already a reality in the north, but we are not in a position to confirm it” due to lack of access to these lands.

The IPC’s criteria for declaring a famine have not yet been technically met, but already “the people of Gaza are dying of hunger,” World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement.

According to the organization’s estimates, one in three children suffers from malnutrition and “acute malnutrition in children under 5 years of age is progressing at a record pace”.

Help “by the drop”

Humanitarian aid trickles into the devastated Gaza Strip.

According to the non-governmental organization Oxfam, 2,874 trucks entered the enclave in February, just 20% of the daily aid the Gaza Strip received before October 7.

According to the World Food Programme, there is a slim chance of preventing famine. To do this “we need direct and unrestricted access to the north. If we wait for a famine to be declared, it will be too late, thousands more people will have died,” according to Cindy McCain.

“An immediate humanitarian ceasefire would allow adequate food, medicine and drinking water” to enter the famine-threatened areas, says Bert Bechdol, but a cessation of hostilities “does not seem likely in the coming days or weeks.

According to the World Food Programme, meeting basic food needs requires “at least 300 trucks per day” to enter Gaza, mainly in the north, where only nine convoys have entered since the start of the year. The last 18 trucks delivered food aid last night to Gaza City.

In an attempt to increase humanitarian aid, airdrops have been carried out, while the international community is making an effort to transport aid by sea.

However, the maritime humanitarian corridor from Cyprus does not change the facts, according to Bert Beckdol. Both airdrops and sea transports “are more symbolic and not a panacea”.