(Bloomberg) — Famine conditions in Gaza are worsening as time runs out to mount a full-scale humanitarian response, United Nations agencies warned, amid growing international outcry over the crisis.
Food consumption and nutrition measures reached their worst levels since the conflict began, the World Food Programme and Unicef said in a report. That means two out of three official famine thresholds have been breached.
Pressure is mounting on Western governments to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step up efforts to address the crisis as worries of massive starvation grow. Israel started restricting fresh aid shipments into the territory in March when it resumed its military campaign, and while it established a new system of supply distribution, that has been hit by problems.
Israel over the weekend increased aid distribution, but German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump have called for more supplies to reach those at risk of starvation.
Trump, a staunch defender of Israel, this week said he did not agree with Netanyahu’s assertion that there is no starvation in Gaza and floated setting up “food centers” to alleviate the situation in the territory.
“Whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. He added that Israel wanted to oversee the proposed food centers.
“They want to preside over the food centers to make sure the distribution is proper,” he said.
“The unbearable suffering of the people of Gaza is already clear for the world to see,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in the report. “Waiting for official confirmation of famine to provide life-saving food aid they desperately need is unconscionable.”
Food consumption in Gaza has plunged since May, with 39% of people now going days without eating, the report from the agencies showed. More than 500,000 people, or almost a quarter of the population, are enduring famine-like conditions, and acute malnutrition has risen at an unprecedented rate.
Acute malnutrition and reports of starvation-related deaths — the third core famine indicator — are increasingly common. However, collecting robust data in Gaza is very difficult as health systems are collapsing, according to the report.
“We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation,” McCain said. “The longer we wait to act, the higher the death toll will rise.”
–With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse and Meghashyam Mali.
(Updates to add Trump remarks in starting in fifth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com