‘Imminent famine’ in northern Gaza, Israel argues Rafah invasion must proceed

The United Nations food agency says famine is imminent in northern Gaza, where an estimated 70% of the remaining population faces catastrophic hunger.

The World Food Program has classed northern Gaza as at Level Five, the worst level in its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC — an international process for estimating the scale of hunger crises.

Only about 210,000 people remain in northern Gaza; most of the population fled south following Israel Defence Force warnings in the early days of the war.

But the World Food Program has also warned that if Israel broadens its offensive to the packed southern city of Rafah, the fighting could drive around half of Gaza’s total population of 2.3 million into catastrophic hunger.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, called on Israel to give immediate and unconditional access to Gaza for aid via land. “I call on the Israeli authorities to ensure complete and unfettered access for humanitarian routes throughout Gaza,” he said before a meeting with the European Commission’s president in Brussels.

Although Israel last week promised to flood Gaza with humanitarian aid and there have been major new aid initiatives over the past two weeks, aid groups say they still face a burdensome Israeli process to import humanitarian aid.

Protestors at the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings are attempting to prevent the entry of aid into Gaza from Israel.