Gaza’s 2.3 million people face crisis levels of hunger and risk of famine, report says
Gaza’s entire population is facing crisis levels of hunger as the risk of famine increases each day, according to a report published by a UN-backed body on Thursday.
The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said:
There is a risk of famine and it is increasing each day that the current situation of intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persists or worsens …
Between 24 November and 7 December, over 90 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.08 million people) was estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). Among these, over 40 percent of the population (939,000 people) were in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and over 15 percent (378,000 people) were in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).
Between 8 December 2023 and 7 February 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.2 million people) is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).
This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country. Among these, about 50 percent of the population (1.17 million people) is in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and at least one in four households (more than half a million people) is facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe). These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities.
Key events
Helena Smith
Cyprus’s president, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Thursday that his government was awaiting a green light from Israel to send a prepared package of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
His comments follow two days of talks between Cypriot and Israeli officials fine-tuning an initiative first proposed by the island republic in November. Christodoulides said:
We are waiting for final approval from Israel. We are ready.
A British naval support vessel, the RFA Lyme Bay, is carrying 90 tons of supplies, including medical aid, and left the port of Larnaca reportedly bound for Gaza, 385km (217 miles) away. The Guardian has learned that the ship is waiting in international waters since being denied permission to dock near Gaza.
Christodoulides said he was “in constant contact” with the UK and the EU. “We are waiting on the Israeli side,” he said.
The Israeli foreign minister, Eli Cohen, who was in Cyprus on Wednesday, inspected storage facilities and security arrangements in Larnaca. Several countries have already dispatched aid to the island, the EU’s most easterly member state. Israel has demanded that shipments be inspected both before and after they are loaded on ships.
Morgue workers at Gaza’s Nasser hospital have spoken with Reuters about the increasing difficulties they face in calculating the civilian death toll from the Israel-Gaza war in the face of deadly air strikes.
The volunteer workers give a harrowing account of trying to identify mutilated corpses, which they wrap in white cloth, working all the time with the stench of death all around them. According to the Reuters report:
Some of the bodies are badly mutilated. Only those that have been identified or claimed by relatives can go for burial and be included in the Gaza health ministry’s death toll for the war. The rest are stored in the morgue’s refrigerator, often for weeks.
With most hospitals across Gaza now closed, hundreds of doctors and other health workers killed, and communications hampered by lack of fuel and electricity, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to compile the casualty figures.
The morgue workers at the Nasser Hospital are part of an international effort – including doctors and health officials in Gaza as well as academics, activists and volunteers around the world – to ensure the toll doesn’t become a casualty of the increasingly dire conditions of the war.
The report comes as the World Health Organization says northern Gaza no longer has a functional hospital, and the United Nations warns that Gaza’s entire population of 2.3m is facing crisis levels of hunger as the risk of famine increases each day.
You can read the Reuters report here.
We’re still waiting for news about when, or indeed if, the UN security council will vote on Thursday afternoon on a new ceasefire resolution for Gaza.
There had been hope it would take place by lunchtime, but delegates agreed to postpone the vote to allow for more negotiations. The Associated Press reports that the US, key allies and Arab nations are engaged in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another US veto.
![Robert Wood, deputy UN ambassador to the United Nations](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cf87c732aa3dbef03c08a493cf9f281843e0b33b/149_344_1588_1985/master/1588.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none)
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood , who cast the vote that doomed the most recent ceasefire effort two weeks ago, told reporters on Thursday morning: “We’re still working it. We’re working it very hard.” He said there needed to be some changes in the text “that would make it worthy of our support”.
Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, which sponsored the Arab-backed resolution, said: “Everyone wants to see a resolution that has impact and that is implementable on the ground. We believe today, giving a little bit of space for additional diplomacy, could yield positive results.”
No new time has been for a vote, and the AP said diplomats told the news agency that Russia called for closed consultations among the 15 council members on Thursday afternoon.
We’ll bring you any developments as they happen.
Summary
Here is where the day stands:
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The US branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres has joined 13 other humanitarian and civil rights organizations in an open letter to the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, to protect civilians in Gaza from Israeli attacks across the strip. The letter urged the defense secretary to “categorically oppose the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate attacks that fail to distinguish between civilian and military objects, and attacks that cause disproportionate civilian harm”, among other requests.
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There are no fully functioning hospitals left in Gaza, the World Health Organization said. “Gaza’s health system needs urgent resuscitation,” the WHO said. Due to Israeli strikes across the strip, 23 hospitals in Gaza are not functioning at all, while nine are partially functioning and four are at minimum function.
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Meta’s content moderation policies and systems are increasingly silencing pro-Palestine content on Facebook and Instagram, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. A new HRW report titled Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook “documents a pattern of undue removal and suppression of protected speech including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about Palestinian rights”, HRW said.
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Gaza’s entire population is facing crisis levels of hunger as the risk of famine increases each day, according to a report published by a UN-backed body on Thursday. The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said: “There is a risk of famine and it is increasing each day that the current situation of intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persists or worsens.”
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A Qatari armed forces aircraft carrying 20 tons of aid including food and medical supplies for Palestinians in Gaza has headed to Arish, Egypt, the Qatari foreign ministry announced. Wednesday’s aircraft brings the total number of Qatari aircraft carrying aid for Gaza to 47 with a total of 1,501 tons of aid.
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625,000 Palestinian students have been deprived of their education across Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks across the strip, the Palestinian foreign ministry announced. Across the densely populated territory, 47% of the population is younger than 18.
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The US said on Thursday that there were “serious and widespread concerns” that the current draft of a UN security council resolution that aims to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “could actually slow down” deliveries. “The goal of this resolution is to facilitate and help expand humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, and we cannot lose sight of that purpose,” said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the UN, ahead of a likely vote on Thursday.
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Israeli police say 19 Israeli prison guards are under investigation in the death of a 38-year-old Palestinian security prisoner. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, says the prisoner was found with “severe signs of violence” on his body and died on 18 November at the Ketziot prison in the southern Negev desert. He was 18 years into a 25-year sentence for attempted murde.
The US branch of Medécins Sans Frontieres has joined 13 other humanitarian and civil rights organisations in an open letter to the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, to protect civilians in Gaza from Israeli attacks across the strip.
The letter, which comes as over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last two months, urged the defence secretary to:
Categorically oppose the targeting of civilians and civilian objects, indiscriminate attacks that fail to distinguish between civilian and military objects, and attacks that cause disproportionate civilian harm; as well as the deprivation of life-saving humanitarian assistance and the use of siege tactics to deprive the civilian population of items indispensable to its survival …
Withhold US assistance, in accordance with US law and policy, that would facilitate violations of international humanitarian law…
Refrain from transferring explosive weapons to Israel for use in Gaza and emphasize adherence to US commitments made on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas…
Reject forcible displacement and the use of so-called “safe zones”.
There are no fully functioning hospitals left in Gaza, the World Health Organization said.
“Gaza’s health system needs urgent resuscitation,” WHO said.
Due to Israeli strikes across the strip, 23 hospitals in Gaza are not functioning at all, while nine are partially functioning and four are at minimum function.
🚨There are no fully functioning hospitals in #Gaza today.
🏥 23 are not functioning at all
🏥 9 are partially functioning
🏥 4 are at minimum functioningGaza’s health system needs urgent resuscitation.
Humanitarians need safe passage
People in Gaza need peace
Ceasefire NOW pic.twitter.com/QPDvp6HHuF
— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) December 20, 2023
Human Rights Watch: systemic censorship of Palestinian content by Meta
Meta’s content moderation policies and systems are increasingly silencing pro-Palestine content on Facebook and Instagram, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
A new HRW report titled Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook “documents a pattern of undue removal and suppression of protected speech including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about Palestinian rights”, HRW said.
According to HRW, it identified six key patterns of censorship, each recurring in at least 100 instances: content removals, suspension or deletion of accounts, inability to engage with content, inability to follow or tag accounts, restrictions on the use of features such as Instagram/Facebook Live, and “shadow banning”.
It also found that Meta had invoked its dangerous organizations and individuals policy, which “fully incorporates the United States designated lists of ‘terrorist organizations’”.
HRW added that Meta misapplied its policies on violent and graphic content, violence and incitement, hate speech, nudity and sexual activity, and also inconsistently applied its “newsworthy allowance” policy, in turn removing dozens of pieces of content documenting Palestinian injury and death that has news value.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has announced that communication has been cut off from the Jabalia ambulance centre in northern Gaza.
The PRCS in a tweet on Thursday:
We received reports that Israeli forces raided the center two hours ago, and arrested crews and paramedics and took them to unknown location. Women and children remain trapped alone inside the center.
🚨 Urgent:-PRCS: communication cut off from the Jabalia ambulance 🚑center, northern #Gaza. We received reports that Israeli forces raided the center two hours ago, and arrested crews and paramedics and took them to unknown location. Women and children remain trapped alone inside…
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 21, 2023
The international humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger (AAH) has said that the risk of famine faced by Palestinians as a result of Israeli attacks on Gaza is becoming a grave concern.
In a statement released on Thursday in response to the UN-backed report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which which found that 2.3 million Palestinians are facing crisis levels of hunger, Chiara Saccardi, the Middle East regional head of AAH said:
The combination of incessant shelling, shortages of food, water, fuel, and the inability of humanitarian agencies to fully operate in Gaza has caused this desperate situation. The UN and humanitarian organisations have been warning for weeks about the need to remove barriers to aid entering Gaza to avoid this reality.
Noelia Monge, AAH’s head of emergencies, expressed similar sentiments, saying:
Everything we are doing is insufficient to meet the needs of 2 million people. It is difficult to find flour and rice, and people have to wait hours to access latrines and wash themselves. We are experiencing an emergency like I have never seen before.
The UAE foreign minister has met with a senior Palestinian Authority official in Abu Dhabi during which they discussed international efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
Reuters reports:
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) secretary general, Hussein Sheikh, to also discuss the humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.
In the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah stressed the importance of prioritising negotiations towards a framework for a two-state peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
The UAE, a Gulf power, is one of few Arab states that has official diplomatic relations with Israel. It established ties in 2020 under a US-brokered deal that paved the way for other Arab states to build their own relations with Israel.
Abu Dhabi has condemned the 7 October Hamas attack and called on the Palestinian Islamist group to release hostages held in Gaza. The Gulf state has also condemned Israel’s bombardment of the enclave and used its non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council to push for a ceasefire in the war.
Gaza’s 2.3 million people face crisis levels of hunger and risk of famine, report says
Gaza’s entire population is facing crisis levels of hunger as the risk of famine increases each day, according to a report published by a UN-backed body on Thursday.
The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said:
There is a risk of famine and it is increasing each day that the current situation of intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persists or worsens …
Between 24 November and 7 December, over 90 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.08 million people) was estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). Among these, over 40 percent of the population (939,000 people) were in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and over 15 percent (378,000 people) were in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).
Between 8 December 2023 and 7 February 2024, the entire population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.2 million people) is classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse).
This is the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified for any given area or country. Among these, about 50 percent of the population (1.17 million people) is in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and at least one in four households (more than half a million people) is facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe). These are characterized by households experiencing an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also said that Israel should refrain from imposing further communication blackouts across Gaza.
“This will allow journalists to continue to report and obtain information from local sources,” CPJ said.
The organization also said that Israel must break its pattern of impunity in journalist killings.
“These investigations should be swift, transparent, and thorough, following internationally accepted standards in line with the Minnesota Protocol,” CPJ said, referring to a set of international guidelines for investigations into suspicious deaths in which the responsibility of a state is suspected.
More journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over a year, according to analysis released by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In a statement released on Thursday, the CPJ said:
By December 20, 2023, at least 68 journalists and media workers had been killed since the October 7 start of the conflict. Of those 68, 61 were Palestinian, four Israeli, and three Lebanese.
CPJ is particularly concerned about an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military. In at least one case, a journalist was killed while clearly wearing press insignia in a location where no fighting was taking place. In at least two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from Israeli officials and IDF officers before their family members were killed.
CPJ is investigating in more detail the circumstances of all 68 deaths. This research is hampered by the widespread destruction in Gaza, and, in a number of cases, the fact that the journalists were killed along with family members who typically are sources for such information.
The Israel Defense Forces has said it cannot guarantee the safety of journalists operating in Gaza.
This month, in reference to two Israeli strikes in Lebanon in October, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists, the Human Rights Watch condemned the attacks as an “unlawful and apparently deliberate attack on a very visible group of journalists”.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders concluded that two journalists who were killed last month in Israeli strikes in Lebanon were “explicitly targeted”.
A Qatari Armed Forces aircraft carrying 20 tons of aid including food and medical supplies for Palestinians in Gaza has headed to Arish, Egypt, the Qatari foreign ministry announced.
Wednesday’s aircraft brings the total number of Qatari aircraft carrying aid for Gaza to 47 with a total of 1,501 tons of aid.