UN chief 'alarmed' by data showing nearly half-million people in Gaza facing 'catastrophic hunger'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "alarmed" by the latest data revealing a growing risk of famine across the Gaza Strip, with nearly a half-million people facing "catastrophic hunger" under Israel's nine-week aid blockade, his spokesman said Monday.

"I can tell you that the secretary-general is indeed alarmed by the findings released today, that one in every five people in Gaza is facing starvation, while the entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity and the risk of famine," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.

Citing the latest findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System (IPC), a global initiative involving 17 UN agencies and NGOs, Dujarric said the report confirms that "470,000 people in Gaza are facing catastrophic hunger.

That's what we refer to as IPC Phase Five, which is the highest level of classification."

"The secretary-general is especially alarmed by the vast majority of children in Gaza who are facing extreme food deprivation," he added.

The IPC findings further project that "71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition," he said.

Dujarric decried the collapse of basic food services in Gaza, saying: "Stocks have run out. Bakeries have shut down. Community kitchens are closing daily and people are starving."

"This is not a natural disaster, but a human-made catastrophe that the world should not allow," he stressed, adding: "The way to address this crisis should be clear, and we've been very clear on that front: open up Gaza so that aid and other essential supplies can reach everyone who needs them, wherever they are."

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical, and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to the government, human rights, and international reports.

Nearly 53,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.