Severe Famine in Palestine's Gaza Strip... "Ceasefire Must Be Achieved Quickly"

WFP Secretary-General: "This Is Terror"

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on the 4th (local time) that residents of the Gaza Strip in Palestine are facing famine, a situation where survival is threatened due to the nearly seven months of ongoing war.

Residents are gathering to receive free food in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director, said in an interview with the U.S. media the day before, "There is a full-scale famine in the northern Gaza Strip, and it is spreading southward," adding, "This is based on what we have seen and experienced on the ground. This is terrifying. It is very difficult to watch. We hope a ceasefire will be quickly achieved so that we can provide food to them."

The Gaza Strip has been suffering from severe food shortages due to Israeli military bombings and blockades in the war that began on October 7 last year with a surprise attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas. There are also observations that the situation has escalated to the highest level defined by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global food standard indicator, which is 'famine.'

Deaths in the Gaza Strip due to the war are also increasing. According to the Hamas Gaza Strip Ministry of Health, the cumulative death toll in Gaza since the outbreak of the war has reached at least 34,654. In the past 24 hours alone, 32 people have lost their lives, and the number of injured since the war began exceeds 77,000.