“There is no famine in Gaza,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement, accusing the report of “twisting” its own rules and criteria to “smear Israel with lies.”
“This man-made, widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children,” said Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines. Aid blockages must end!” he added.
Since May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, has led humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza. However, it has drawn criticism from United Nations officials, who allege that its operations have contributed to the forced displacement of Palestinians. According to U.N. figures, over 1,000 people have been killed since July while attempting to access food at GHF distribution sites.
“This confirmation of famine is absolutely horrifying yet not surprising,” Mercy Corps Chief Executive Officer Tjada D’Oyen McKenna said in a statement.” “What we are witnessing in Gaza is a moral failing of the highest order. The world knows how to stop a famine — we just need the will to act,” she added.
Hamas-led militants stormed out of the Gaza Strip into nearby Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which coincided with a major Jewish holiday. Their attack killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Some 250 people, including children, were captured by Hamas and other groups and taken into Gaza, triggering a massive retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is under the Hamas-run government, said that 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the beginning of the war, according to the latest figures in the Associated Press. U.N. agencies and independent experts consider the ministry’s casualty records as generally reliable.
Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
This article has been updated.