WHO Chief warns of imminent famine in Gaza, calls to scale up efforts

WHO’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that Northern Gaza is on the brink of facing an imminent famine if interventions regarding humanitarian aid are not made within days in the area.

Expressing distress on X, he wrote, “Deeply alarming- @theIPCinfo warns there is a strong likelihood that famine in northern #Gaza is imminent”

He gave a call for an immediate scale-up and safe access for humanitarian aid, primarily food and medicines to tackle severe malnutrition.

Sharing the IPC Report by the Famine Review Committee (FRC), the Director-General of WHO gave a call for collective global action.

The report, which was published on November 8 expressed concern about an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip.

Various observations were made by the report. It noted that according to OCHA data, the number of aid shipments being let into the Gaza Strip is lower now than at any time since October 2023.

The WFP market monitoring report for the second half of October indicates that the average number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip fell to just 58 per day, the lowest level since November 2023.

It was also noted that the price of basic commodities like cooking fuel grew by leaps, even in th black market. Concurrent with the extremely high and increasing prices of essential items has been the total collapse of livelihoods to be able to purchase or barter for food and other basic needs.

In a significant observation, the report stated, “It is already abundantly clear that the worst-case scenario developed by the analysis team is now playing out in areas of the northern Gaza Strip”.

“It can therefore be assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas. Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future”, the report remarked.

Since the start of the conflict in West Asia, Gaza has seen a rise in humanitarian crises.