On Wednesday, the leader of Save the Children provided a harrowing account of the plight of starving children in Gaza, revealing that their frailty has reached a point where they are unable to cry.
During a UN Security Council meeting focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Inger Ashing, president of the international charity, emphasised that the famine recently declared by the UN in Gaza is far more than a mere technical term.
Insufficient food supply leads to acute malnutrition in children, resulting in a slow and painful demise. “This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” Ashing stated.
She detailed the harrowing process that unfolds when children succumb to hunger over several weeks. Initially, the body resorts to using its own fat reserves for survival, but once those are depleted, it tragically begins to consume its own muscles and vital organs.
However, there is a notable lack of activity in our clinics. Currently, children lack the strength to articulate their pain or even cry out in distress. “They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” Ashing remarked.
According to her, aid organisations have been sounding alarms about an impending famine, citing Israel’s blockade on food and other essential supplies entering Gaza during the two years of conflict that followed the Hamas attack in October 2023.
“Every individual present in this room bears both a legal and moral obligation to take action against this atrocity,” stated Ashing.
On Friday, the United Nations announced a famine in Gaza, attributing the crisis to what it described as systematic obstruction of aid by Israel amid over 22 months of conflict.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), supported by the United Nations, has reported that famine is currently impacting 500,000 individuals in the Gaza governorate. This area encompasses approximately one-fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.
The IPC has forecast that by the end of September, the famine is expected to extend to encompass approximately two-thirds of Gaza.
On Wednesday, Israel issued a demand for the IPC to retract its report, labelling it as “fabricated.”
Following the Security Council meeting on Wednesday, 14 members, excluding the United States, which is a key ally of Israel, released a joint declaration that conveyed “profound alarm and distress” regarding the famine declaration. They expressed confidence in the work and methodology of the IPC.
International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war. “Immediate action is required to halt the famine in Gaza,” the declaration states.
