International humanitarian aid groups confirm famine in Gaza

The international group UNICEF says more than half a million people, including children, are facing famine in Gaza.

The children’s aid agency said that by September, more than 640,000 people across the Gaza Strip will face what they are calling a “catastrophic level of food insecurity.”

It further said an additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be at “emergency” levels, and 396,000 people will be in “crisis” conditions.

UNICEF, along with The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization, say the need for food is becoming increasingly desperate.

“Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said Cindy McCain, the Executive Director at the WFP. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, and proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access and a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”

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All groups say that an immediate ceasefire is needed to allow for a full-scale humanitarian response.

Access to food by the people in Gaza remains difficult, with UNICEF saying nearly 39 per cent of people were going days at a time without eating, and adults regularly skipping meals to feed their children.

Since July, nearly 98 per cent of cropland in the territory has been damaged or is inaccessible, leaving nine-out-of-ten people serially displaced from their homes.

Earlier this month The Canadian Armed Forces filled a CC-130J Hercules aircraft with nearly 10,000 kg of supplies and dropped the much needed support of Global Affairs into the Gaza Strip.

At the time, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in post on X that the humanitarian disaster in Gaza was rapidly deteriorating, and that Canada would intensify its efforts with international partners to ensure aid moved forward at the necessary scale.

READ MORE: Canadian Armed Forces airdrop humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza