"One metric used by the IPC to measure acute malnutrition is the mid-upper-arm circumference of children under five. By this measure some 15% of children in the governorate of Gaza are acutely malnourished, a level consistent with the IPC’s definition of phase four (an emergency) and phase five (a famine). This percentage has doubled every four weeks over the past three months. If current trends continue, more than half of children there could be acutely malnourished by the end of September.
The declaration of famine will probably change little on the ground. The food flowing into Gaza is far less than what is needed. Domestic production has collapsed. More than 98% of cropland is damaged or inaccessible. Only 26% of sheep, 34% of goats, 4% of cattle and 1% of poultry have survived the war. Fishing has ceased under Israeli restrictions. Food prices are ruinous: in July they rose by another 25%, pushing the cost of staples to nearly 100 times their level during a February ceasefire and 150 times their pre-war level. It does not help that there is little fuel or clean water with which to cook. A catastrophic situation is getting worse by the day."
#Palestine#Gaza #Israel#Starvation#HumanRights#Genocide#EthnicCleansing
