UN: More than 1 in 4 people in Gaza suffer from hunger because of the war

2023-12-22 07:47:18, Kosova & Bota CNA

A UN report concludes that more than half a million people in Gaza are starving due to insufficient food since the war broke out more than 10 weeks ago.

World Food Program chief economist Arif Husain said "it's a situation where almost everyone in Gaza is starving." He warned that if the war between Israel and Hamas continues at the same levels and the delivery of food does not resume, the population could face "a famine within the next six months".

The UN-backed Initiative on Food Security Classification (IPC) said in a report on Thursday that the fighting, "including bombings, ground operations and encirclement of entire populations", has caused "catastrophic levels" of acute food insecurity.

The IPC said more than 1 in 4 families face extreme hunger and are at risk of starvation if access to essential food, clean water, health and sanitation services is not restored.

Israel says it is in the final stages of eliminating Hamas militants from northern Gaza, but months of fighting are expected in the south.

Meanwhile, fighting intensified between Hamas and Israel on Thursday with heavy bombing in northern Gaza as warplanes struck targets in the central and southern parts of the enclave.

Four people were reportedly killed in southern Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, according to Hamas.

The Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident.

Ten weeks after the start of the war, Hamas, an organization the US considers a terrorist organization, showed it still has the ability to fire rockets at Israel, as sirens were sounded in central Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces posted maps showing rocket alerts from Ashkelon, in the northern Gaza Strip, to the Tel Aviv area.

There were no reports of casualties as the Iron Dome's defense system intercepted the missiles.

The Israeli military also said Thursday that its forces had carried out strikes against 230 targets in Gaza over the past day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that his army will continue fighting until Hamas is eliminated and the remaining hostages are freed.

The war, which began after Hamas carried out a terrorist attack inside Israel on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages, has caused a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the Hamas-run health ministry says 20,000 Palestinians killed. Nearly 2 million more have been displaced.

Experts say the Israeli military campaign against Hamas is now among the deadliest and most destructive in history.

In just over two months, the offensive has caused more destruction than the destruction of Aleppo in Syria from 2012 to 2016, Mariupol in Ukraine, or Germany's Allied bombing in World War II combined. It has killed more civilians than the US-led coalition in the three-year campaign against the Islamic State group./ VOA