Gaza: Oxfam denounces imminent famine without ceasefire and aid release

Commenting on the new Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) report that raises the alarm about the imminent famine in Gaza, Paolo Pezzati, spokesperson for humanitarian crises at Oxfam Italy, said: 'If the war continues and food and other essential goods that the population is now almost completely deprived of are not allowed in, famine will be inevitable and will be one of the most serious in the world. The international community is watching the immense suffering affecting over 2 million people, mostly children, without taking a step. For more than 2 months, the total siege imposed by Israel on Gaza has prevented the entry of any supplies: not only food, but also clean water and medicine, while thousands of truckloads of humanitarian aid ready to be distributed are blocked at the border crossings. The starvation of Gaza is deliberate, finely planned, not accidental, and it is therefore unconscionable to allow it to happen'.

"Our operators and partners inside the Strip," Pezzati explained, "are witnessing scenes that are hard to describe: entire families wasting away and starving, children so malnourished that they no longer even have the strength to cry, entire communities that have no water or food. In a refugee camp where we distributed the last available food parcels weeks ago, barely 2 families out of 500 at this moment still have some flour to make bread'.

Added to this is Israel's plan to militarise the delivery of humanitarian aid. 'This is an obvious violation of international humanitarian law, which risks leading to a humanitarian catastrophe,' Pezzati concluded. 'Transforming the delivery of aid into an instrument of control not only puts civilians even more at risk, but also compromises the neutrality of humanitarian work, risking bringing chaos into Gaza, with the inevitable, further suffering for the population. To remain silent in the face of what is happening is to make oneself complicit in it. This is why Oxfam launches an urgent appeal to the international community, including Italy, for action that will lead to an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages and prisoners held illegally, an end to the siege on Gaza, full humanitarian access for the population, and to finally hold Israel accountable for using hunger as a weapon of war".