Who would have guessed that a hunger would be a part of a genocide? Quite a few, actually. The UN has now formally declared a famine in Gaza following months of warnings, attributing the problem to Israel’s deliberate blocking of food. This is the first official confirmation of a famine in the Middle East. Famine is currently affecting an estimated 50% of the approximately one million inhabitants in the Gaza Strip, according to the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC). By the end of September, the IPC has also predicted that the famine will spread to the governorates of Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis, encompassing approximately two-thirds of Gaza.
This official announcement may appear a bit late, but that’s because it is. Before this announcement was made, 273 famine-related deaths had already been reported, and the people of Gaza had been going hungry for months. 112 children are included in this horrifying total, and an additional 320,000 are said to have suffered from severe malnutrition. International organizations and human rights agencies are essentially catching up to Israel’s horrors, and if the Zionist dictatorship has its way, they will keep doing so. Ignoring the world uproar, it is still steadfast in its deadly plot to seize Gaza City and threatens to cause even more Palestinian deaths and displacement than it has already caused. In addition to the more than 63,000 Palestinians Israel has killed, at least 37 people were killed in the city on Saturday as it reportedly increased its attacks on the region in preparation for its larger offensive. However, Israel’s officials would contend that even this seismic sum is insufficient for its “security.” Additionally, according to UNRWA, this “security” evidently necessitates that enough food, medication, and hygiene supplies to fill 6000 trucks remain unfilled while the people for whom this help is intended continue to perish from a lack of them. Another possible truce, meanwhile, seems to have been kept on hold while it awaits Israeli consent.
According to reports earlier this week, Hamas, the organization Israel frequently invokes to defend their slaughter, had agreed to a new ceasefire plan; nevertheless, the Israelis seem unconcerned. Israel unilaterally ended a different truce earlier this year, continuing a pattern that has been evident throughout the nearly two-year-long slaughter. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that much will change despite this historic evidence of starvation. Indeed, international courts have issued arrest warrants, international public opinion has shifted sharply against Israel, including the US president reportedly lamenting the growing anti-Israel sentiment in his nation, and a number of European nations have condemned Israel’s actions and pledged to recognize a Palestinian state. However, the situation on the ground will not change if there is no willingness to act upon these warrants, criticisms, opinions, and recognition. Palestinians will continue to perish as Israel continues on its barbaric path. It remains to be seen how many more people must perish—from starvation, a gunshot wound, or a bomb—before words and ideas are translated into action, and whether there is even a threshold that will cause this shift.
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