One in five in Gaza face famine as Israel’s blockade continues. What does starvation do to the human body?
Half a million people in the Gaza Strip, or one in five Palestinians, are facing starvation.
The entire rest of the population is suffering from high levels of acute food insecurity, according to a recent report by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
“The risk of famine in the Gaza Strip is not just possible – it is increasingly likely,” the IPC says.
For more than 73 days, Israel has blocked all food, water, and medicine from entering Gaza, creating a man-made crisis, with the IPC warning that famine could be declared any time between now and September.
Famine is the worst level of hunger, where people face severe food shortages, widespread malnutrition, and high levels of death due to starvation.
According to the UN’s criteria, famine is declared when:
Famine is not just about hunger; it is the worst humanitarian emergency, indicating a complete collapse of access to food, water and the systems necessary for survival.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since Israel’s complete blockade began on March 2, at least 57 children have died from the effects of malnutrition.
Estimates say the body can last up to three weeks without food, but the length of time varies between individuals.
Starvation occurs over three stages. The first begins as early as when a meal is skipped, the second occurs with a prolonged period of fasting where the body uses stored fat for energy.
The third, and often fatal, stage is when all stored fats have been depleted and the body turns to bone and muscle as sources of energy.
Children are most vulnerable to Israel’s continued blockade of essential food items.
What is famine and when is it reached?
More than 9,000 children have been admitted to hospital for treatment for acute malnutrition since the start of the year, according to the United Nations.
The IPC projects that between now and March 2026, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition, including 14,100 children facing severe cases of malnutrition.
Malnutrition leads to an out-of-proportion height-to-weight ratio, stunted growth and eventually, death.
Earlier this month, at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, Dr Ahmed Abu Nasir said the situation has become worse than ever due to the blockade.
“Children are in their growing stage and badly need certain nutrients, including proteins and fats,” the paediatrician told media. “These are not available in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north.”
Pregnant and breastfeeding women will also need to be treated for malnutrition, with 17,000 women facing this risk.
The entire population of Gaza, about 2.1 million people that remain, are facing levels of food shortages that threaten their existence.
Earlier this month, Ahmad al-Najjar, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, told media, “Finding a single meal has become an impossible quest.”
Despite large numbers of trucks carrying vital supplies piling up on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in Gaza have resorted to selling rubbish to afford the eye-wateringly inflated food prices.
Some 93 percent of Gaza’s population is at risk of levels of food insecurity above the crisis levels indicated by the IPC. If the situation does not change, the IPC has indicated that of those 2.1 million people:
In essence, in as little as a month, Gaza’s entire population could be starving.
The features of malnutrition and starvation are unmistakable in Gaza, with severely underweight children and babies. In children, severe protein deficiency causes fluid retention and a swollen abdomen.
