Taahra Ghazi, co-CEO of ActionAid UK, said: “That famine should be officially confirmed in Gaza for the first time by the IPC despite months of repeated warnings, and despite it being entirely preventable, is a deep stain on our collective humanity. Let there be no doubt: this is an entirely engineered famine and the direct result of the Israeli authorities’ deliberate blocking of food, water and other humanitarian aid into Gaza, which breaches international humanitarian law. It is utterly shameful that, for so many months, the Israeli authorities have used starvation as a weapon of war with impunity: now we are seeing the calamitous consequences play out. Malnourished mothers are unable to breastfeed their babies; our own staff and partners are dizzy and exhausted because they give any food they can find to their children and go hungry themselves.
“People in Gaza City are already experiencing famine: now they are in the midst of an intensified assault by the Israeli military and facing a full ground offensive, which would forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of people and severely disrupt humanitarian operations at a time when they are needed more than ever. It is difficult to stress just how much more dire the situation will become if it goes ahead.
"There is now a race against time to stop this famine from becoming any further entrenched. Every hour counts and there is no time to waste. The international community must take meaningful action and use diplomatic pressure to bring about a permanent ceasefire immediately. Food and other aid must be allowed to enter Gaza unhindered, rapidly and at scale if there is to be any hope of preventing any more deaths by starvation.”
Faten is a Senior Project Officer with WEFAQ, ActionAid’s partner in Gaza. She said: “In the past two months, I have lost 20 kilograms. My children have lost weight and are malnourished. We haven’t had proper meals for three days. I am exhausted, dizzy, and terrified my children will get sicker. I cry daily. This is the first time in my life I have wished I didn’t have children – because watching them waste away is unbearable.”
Dr. Ra’ed Al-Baba, who works at Al Awda Hospital, run by ActionAid’s partner Al-Awda, said: “There are mothers who resort to using legume water, herbs, and other alternatives to infant milk because of the severe shortage. These methods carry catastrophic risks, causing gastroenteritis, food poisoning, delayed growth, severe anaemia, and even the inability to move. We have seen cases of extreme dehydration from polluted water mixed with these substitutes. This is not survival, this is slow death.”
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Spokespeople are available for interview. Please contact the press office to arrange at uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486.