‘Worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed food security initiative says
'Conflict and displacement have intensified, and access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels,' the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in an alert, adding that 'mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.'
The IPC said that the alert is intended to 'draw urgent attention to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation' but doesn't constitute a formal classification of famine. 'Given the most recent information and data made available, a new IPC analysis is to be conducted without delay,' it added.
More than 20,000 children were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July, the IPC said, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished.
'Latest data indicates that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City,' the alert said, calling for 'immediate action' to end the hostilities and allow for 'unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response.'
In May, the IPC reported that the enclave's entire population was experiencing 'high levels of acute food security' and the territory was at 'high risk' of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis.
Israel has come under mounting pressure by the international community to break its blockade, allow aid into Gaza and end the war.
In some of his strongest remarks on the crisis, US President Donald Trump on Monday said there is 'real starvation' in Gaza, contradicting earlier statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists there is no starvation.
President Donald Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment on starvation in Gaza and announced a plan for new "food centers" in the enclave. CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Jerusalem. 'That's real starvation stuff,' Trump told reporters in Turnberry, Scotland. 'I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved.'
Trump added that the United States will set up 'food centers' in Gaza to address the crisis.
Vice President JD Vance also lamented images coming out of the besieged territory.
'I don't know if you've all seen these images. You have got some really, really heartbreaking cases. You've got little kids who are clearly starving to death,' Vance told reporters Monday during a visit to Canton, Ohio.
'Israel's got to do more to let that aid in,' he said, adding that 'we've also got to wage war on Hamas so that those folks stop preventing food from coming into this territory.'
Over the weekend, Israel announced a daily 'tactical pause in military activity' in three areas of Gaza to enable more aid to reach people. The military said the move would 'refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.'
Israel has also allowed foreign countries to airdrop aid into the territory, but the practice has in the past been deemed by the UN and other aid groups as costly, dangerous and insufficient.
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Israel's war on Hamas began nearly two years ago.
The ministry reported that 113 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 60,034.
The announcement comes as hopes dim for a ceasefire anytime soon, after talks broke up last week without an agreement.
The war began after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and saw another roughly 250 people taken hostage.
Authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters when reporting casualty figures, but the health ministry and the UN say the majority of deaths are women and children. And the true toll could be much higher, with many thousands still believed to be buried under rubble.
Israel does not dispute that a significant number of Palestinian civilians have been killed in its war in Gaza. But it has long argued that figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry are exaggerated, and that Hamas embeds itself between civilians, using them as 'human shields.'
On Monday, a pair of leading Israeli human rights groups accused Israel of 'committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,' becoming the first such organizations to make the claim.
B'Tselem said it came to that 'unequivocal conclusion' after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack.'
A second Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), announced it was joining B'Tselem in calling Israel's actions in Gaza genocide. It published a separate legal and medical analysis documenting what it called 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.'
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer dismissed the report. 'We have free speech in this country but we strongly reject this claim,' he told reporters, adding that Israel has allowed aid into Gaza.
CNN's Eyad Kourdi, DJ Judd and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
3 people die in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight into Saturday killed three people, Russian officials said Saturday. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted or destroyed 112 drones across eight Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said. Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people wounded in a drone strike on business premises in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko. In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 53 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said that air defenses shot down or jammed 45 drones. Eleven people were wounded in an overnight drone strike on the Kharkiv region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. The reciprocal drone strikes followed a day of mourning in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, after a Russian drone and missile attack killed 31 people, including five children, and wounded over 150. The continued attacks come after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress. Trump said Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at The Associated Press
Associated Press
4 minutes ago
- Associated Press
3 people die in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight into Saturday killed three people, Russian officials said Saturday. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted or destroyed 112 drones across eight Russian regions and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. A drone attack on the Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, killed one person, acting governor Yuri Slyusar said. Further from the front line, a woman was killed and two other people wounded in a drone strike on business premises in the Penza region, according to regional governor Oleg Melnichenko. In the Samara region, falling drone debris sparked a fire that killed an elderly resident, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 53 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said that air defenses shot down or jammed 45 drones. Eleven people were wounded in an overnight drone strike on the Kharkiv region, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday. The reciprocal drone strikes followed a day of mourning in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, after a Russian drone and missile attack killed 31 people, including five children, and wounded over 150. The continued attacks come after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress. Trump said Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Justin Timberlake has Lyme disease. A doctor explains what it is
As pop star Justin Timberlake concluded his world tour earlier this week, the 'SexyBack' singer shared on Thursday in a social media post that he has been grappling with health issues and a diagnosis of Lyme disease. Timberlake did not disclose which stage of Lyme disease he is experiencing in his Instagram post relaying his diagnosis, but the singer wrote, 'At least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.' His ordeal, like that of Bella Hadid and other celebrities before him, brings up many questions. What exactly is Lyme disease, and how is it contracted and spread? How is the illness diagnosed and treated? What does it mean when someone has 'chronic Lyme'? Is there a vaccine for Lyme disease? To help us with these questions, I spoke with CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She previously served as Baltimore's health commissioner. CNN: Can you start by explaining what Lyme disease is? Dr. Leana Wen: Lyme disease is a bacterial infection. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is the most common cause. In rare cases, Borrelia mayonii may cause the illness also. In the United States, Lyme is the most common disease spread by vectors, which are animals such as mosquitoes and ticks that spread infections. Lyme disease is transmitted through the bite of a particular tick, the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus). There are three stages of Lyme disease. The first stage is early localized disease that begins within a day to four weeks after the tick bite. People develop flu-like symptoms such as headache, muscle aches and fatigue. Some develop a characteristic 'bull's-eye' rash known as erythema migrans. The second stage occurs three to 12 weeks after the initial infection. This is the 'early disseminated' stage in which people have more widespread symptoms. They can include dizziness, chest pain, palpitations, arthritis and facial nerve paralysis. The third stage is 'late disseminated' disease, which can occur months after infection. Here, again, there is a constellation of symptoms. They include ongoing joint pain, fatigue, depression, palpitations, and other neurological, rheumatological and cardiac involvement. CNN: How is Lyme disease treated, and why is it important to get prompt treatment? Wen: Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can prevent complications and the progression to the next stages of disease. The standard treatment is antibiotic therapy. Most people are cured after taking oral antibiotics for 10 to 14 days. Preventive therapy is common, too. If someone has been bitten by a black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick , in an area of the country known to have Lyme, they could take one dose of the antibiotic doxycycline to prevent Lyme infection. This step should be done within 72 hours of the tick bite. It's important to carefully remove the tick if it's still attached. Take a picture and bring it with you to the doctor's appointment, or send the picture to your provider if you're having a telemedicine visit. CNN: Is there a blood test one could take to see whether they have Lyme disease? Wen: Yes, though there are several limitations. The most common tests are antibody tests, which detect antibodies the body makes in response to infection. These tests probably don't turn positive until several weeks after infection, so if someone just got infected and took the test, it will be negative even if the person has Lyme. In addition, the antibodies could persist in the blood for months or even years, but their presence alone does not signify that Lyme disease is the cause of all the symptoms a person may have. False positives also can occur, with some other tickborne diseases and autoimmune illnesses triggering a positive result in the absence of Lyme disease. CNN: Then how is Lyme disease diagnosed? Wen: Typically, it's diagnosed through a careful symptom documentation and an exposure history. Physical signs, such as the characteristic rash, enlarged lymph nodes or joint swelling, can aid in the diagnosis, as well. Blood testing can help but has limitations, as I mentioned earlier. The provider often presumptively treats with antibiotics based on the clinical history. CNN: What does it mean when someone has 'chronic Lyme'? Wen: There is a condition called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, or PTLDS. This refers to people who have had Lyme disease but, six months or longer after completing treatment, still have persistent symptoms. These symptoms can include fogginess, difficulty thinking, ongoing fatigue, and nerve and joint pain. It's not known why some people develop PTLDS. There are several hypotheses, including a persistent infection or autoimmune response. The symptoms of PTLDS can be treated, but there is no proven cure. The term 'chronic Lyme disease' includes people who have PTLDS. It is sometimes also used to describe symptoms in people who have not been diagnosed with Lyme disease. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 'because of the confusion in how the term (chronic Lyme disease) is employed, and the lack of a clearly defined clinical definition, many experts in this field do not support its use.' In my experience as a physician and patient advocate, I have met many people who believe they have this condition and are really suffering. Many are debilitated as a result and unable to function as they previously did. Just like long Covid and other similar conditions, there is much that we do not understand about this condition. Far more research needs to be done in order to alleviate the very real agony and distress that these patients are experiencing. CNN: Is there a vaccine for Lyme disease? Wen: There are several vaccines against Lyme disease for dogs. For humans, there are some late-stage clinical trials that are ongoing, including one by Valneva and Pfizer that could be submitted for regulatory approval by 2025. CNN: What are ways to avoid contracting Lyme? Wen: Without a vaccine, the best way to prevent Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. If you are going to areas where ticks known to carry Lyme are found, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. Use insect repellent that contains DEET. Once you return indoors, examine yourself — and children and pets — for ticks. Remove the tick if found, and immediately contact your primary care provider to ask about preventive antibody treatment. And stay alert for symptoms, since early antibiotic therapy is crucial to prevent longer-term consequences. Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. Solve the daily Crossword
