The Israeli government has reportedly cut off commercial food imports to the Gaza Strip, a move that was revealed Thursday as new data showed that the besieged enclave’s entire population is facing emergency-level hunger as famine conditions take hold.
Reuters reported that the far-right Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has “stopped processing requests from traders to import food to Gaza, according to 12 people involved in the trade, choking off a track that for the past six months supplied more than half of the besieged Palestinian territory’s provisions.”
“Since October 11, Gaza-based traders who were importing food from Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank have lost access to a system introduced in spring by COGAT, the Israeli government body that oversees aid and commercial shipments, and have received no reply to attempts to contact the agency,” Reuters continued. “The shift has driven the flow of goods arriving in Gaza to its lowest level since the start of the war.”
Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian assistance and repeated attacks on aid convoys have sparked catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. According to an updated analysis published Thursday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), “the whole territory is classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency)” and “given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialize.”
“September saw the lowest volume of commercial and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since March 2024,” said the IPC. “This sharp decline will profoundly limit food availability and the ability of families to feed themselves and access services in the next few months. The upcoming winter season is expected to bring colder temperatures along with rain and potential flooding. Seasonal diseases and increasingly limited access to water and health services are likely to worsen acute malnutrition, especially in densely populated areas, where the risk of epidemics is already high.”
“Every time a mission is impeded, the lives of people in need and humanitarians on the ground are put at even greater risk.”
IPC projected that the number of people in Gaza classified in IPC Phase 5—defined as “extreme critical levels of acute malnutrition and mortality”—is set to “nearly triple” in the coming months.
Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of the aid group Mercy Corps, said in a statement that the new IPC findings “come as no surprise given the unrelenting bombardment, continued decimation of what little infrastructure remains, and the insufficient humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza.”
“Whether officially declared or not, famine is an imminent, devastating reality that should shame the world,” said McKenna. “The disturbing worst-case scenario for an entire population is all but certain without an immediate cease-fire, healthcare support for those already extremely malnourished, and the dramatic scale-up of aid.”
The IPC figures were released days after the Biden administration belatedly threatened to suspend U.S. military aid to Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid deliveries.
Days after the administration issued its warning—which took the form of a letter to Israel’s defense minister and minister of strategic affairs—Israel allowed dozens of humanitarian aid trucks to enter northern Gaza for the first time in weeks.
Joyce Msuya, the United Nations’ acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, described the fresh aid delivery as a mere “trickle” that did not change the fact that “all essential supplies for survival are running out.”
“Throughout Gaza, less than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities in the first two weeks of October were facilitated without major incidents or delays,” Msuya told members of the UN Security Council earlier this week. “Every time a mission is impeded, the lives of people in need and humanitarians on the ground are put at even greater risk.”
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