UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram warned of the risk of famine worsening in Gaza City and spreading to the central Gaza Strip within weeks if urgent action is not taken.
Anadolu Agency quoted Ingram as saying that the risk of famine spreading in Gaza City is real, stressing that families are no longer able to provide food for their children, and that the situation in the Strip has become “catastrophic.”
Ingram explained that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, particularly those east and north of Gaza City, live under constant threat from escalating Israeli bombardment, noting that “Palestinians in those areas are fleeing the bombardment westward toward the sea, where the number of camps and tents along the coastal strip is increasing.”
She noted that hospital directors informed her of an increase in the number of children suffering from fractures, burns, and wounds as a result of Israeli bombing in recent days.
Ingram also warned that famine could spread to the center of the Strip within weeks if urgent action is not taken.
She continued, “People are desperately searching for food and water. I met fathers and mothers holding my hands, crying, asking, ‘When will the food arrive? Will our child survive until then?’ The situation is a complete disaster.”
She noted that health and humanitarian workers and journalists have been warning of famine in Gaza for months, “but nothing has changed.” She added that Palestinian families are living in a state of helplessness because they know the worst is yet to come, and that “there is not enough international pressure to change this reality.”
She emphasized that children are in dire need of food, water, and medicine, asserting that hundreds of trucks should be entering Gaza daily to cover basic needs, “but that is not happening yet.
About the Author
