UN Report Expects Famine in Gaza by May

A report backed by the United Nations has warned that famine is likely to occur in northern Gaza by May and could spread across the region by July.

The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) stated that more than five months of war have shattered the Palestinian territory and cut off supplies, leading to malnutrition and food insecurity that have already exceeded famine levels in the north of Gaza. Hunger-linked death rates are expected to follow soon.

The IPC uses a complex set of technical criteria to assess the severity of a food crisis. Its most extreme warning is Phase 5, which has two levels, catastrophe and famine.

Famine is determined by at least 20% of the population suffering from extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished, and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease.

According to the report, in northern Gaza, "the upward trend in non-trauma mortality is also expected to accelerate, resulting in all famine thresholds likely to be passed imminently."