The regional director of the UN agency for children in West Asia and North Africa has warned that more Palestinian children in the besieged Gaza are gradually falling victim to starvation amid fears of an ‘impending famine’ caused by Israel’s brutal war in the blockaded territory.

Adele Khodr urged Israel to open all border crossings to allow aid into the Gaza Strip citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) recent report warning of an “imminent famine” in Gaza.

“The IPC findings on Gaza confirm what we have been warning about of impending famine for months now. The world’s inaction is shocking as more children succumb to a slow death. All border crossings must open now to allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid,” she wrote in a social media post.

The IPC, a group that includes the World Food Program and the World Health Organization, warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza with people suffering “catastrophic levels of hunger.”

It said 1.1 million people, half of Gaza, experience catastrophic food insecurity.
According to the IPC “virtually all households are skipping meals every day and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat.”

In two-thirds of households in northern Gaza, the report said, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days. In the southern governorates, this applies to one-third of the households.

In a statement published on Monday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Samantha Power said the IPC report is a “reality” for Gazans.

Power added that there have been only two Famine declarations in the twenty-first century, which marks a truly tragic milestone.

The Israeli government has been “intentionally” denying entry of both food and humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, using starvation as a weapon of war.