Global food security experts have warned there is a 'strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas' of the northern Gaza Strip, as Israel continues its military offensive against Hamas. The independent Famine Review Committee issued a rare alert on Friday, stating that 'immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors' to avert a catastrophic situation.
The warning comes ahead of a US deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on military aid. The Biden administration has previously demanded more aid access but has done little to enforce its requests, even reportedly ignoring its own agencies' conclusions that Israel deliberately blocked food and medicine deliveries.
The committee warned that if no effective action is taken, the scale of the looming catastrophe 'is likely to dwarf anything we have seen so far in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023'. An estimated 75,000 to 95,000 people remain in northern Gaza, where the UN has said starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality are rapidly increasing.
Israel denies implementing a 'surrender or starve' plan to depopulate the north, but a military official said it has no intention of allowing Palestinians to return to their homes. Over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, with nearly 70% of verified deaths being women and children, according to a UN analysis.
