Gaza is experiencing serious starvation, as claimed by the United Nations in December 2023. The UN food security agency, WFP (World Food Program), said that around 500,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing "catastrophic conditions."
Unicef added that the entire population of the Palestinian city, which is roughly 2.2 million, could be suffering from acute food shortages.
In the fourth week of January, the United Nations even warned that pockets of the Palestinian territory could be facing famine as Israel continue its bombardments and other military operations in the Gaza City.
What Gaza Starvation, Desperation Look Like
Reuters reported that some areas near the Egyptian border get limited supplies of food. But, the situations of Palestinians in the center and north of the Gaza Strip are worse.
"The food situation in the north is absolutely horrific. There's almost no food available and everybody we talk to begs for food," said the WHO (World Health Organization) coordinator in Gaza, Sean Casey.
As of writing, comprehensive data on hunger in the Palestinian city isn't available yet. However, aid agencies plan to assess malnutrition in the region by measuring children's arms to check for wasting flesh signs.
But, despite the lack of a detailed database, many experts shared what they are seeing in the Gaza Strip. One of them is pediatric doctor Jabr al-Shaer, who said that babies in Gaza hospitals are born sick because of their malnourished mothers.
Aside from him, British surgeon Nick Maynard, who worked in central with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, also shared what's happening in the city.
"We saw a lot of very thin people just sitting around and staring into space looking waste," said Nick.
The British surgeon said that there was very clear evidence proving that Palestinians are suffering from malnourishment because of starvation.
WHO doctor Ayadil Saparbekov also said the same thing after seeing children and older people showing serious signs of flesh wasting.
"I saw children on the streets who were visibly malnourished by the look on their faces. They were visibly thin. Their hands were thin and they had sunken eyes," explained Saparbekov.
Read Also : Netanyahu Rejects Proposal To End War With Hamas Despite US Effort for Two-State Solution
Israel Denies Starvation Claims of UN
Recently, the leader of the Coordination and Liaison Administration-the military division handling the distribution of supplies in Gaza-denied the starvation claims made by UN agencies.
CLA head Col. Moshe Tetro said that their soldiers are working around the clock to make sure that the needed food, water, and other essential supplies are properly delivered to the Palestinian city.
He even claimed that the number of food trucks entering Gaza daily drastically increased, as reported by Fox News. Tetro said that before the war officially started, only 70 food aid trucks were entering the territory.
Now, there are over 200 food trucks going inside the Palestinian city this January.
Related Article: Israel Claims No Food Shortage in Gaza, Rejecting Famine Claims of UN; CLA Says Food Aid Increased Twofold
