People face “the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded,” according to the UN

(CNN) — According to UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths, famine is “just around the corner” as Gazans face the “highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded”.

Citing the death toll in the thousands, attacks on medical facilities and non-functioning hospitals, Griffiths said in a statement issued on Friday that Gaza had become a “place of death and despair”.

“Hope has never been more elusive,” he added.

A public health disaster is unfolding as infectious diseases spread in overcrowded shelters and overflowing sewers, Griffiths said, adding that about 180 Palestinian women “are giving birth every day in the midst of this chaos.”

“Gaza has become simply deserted. Its people face daily threats to their existence, while the world watches,” Griffiths said in a statement issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel began its war against Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, and 1.9 million people have been displaced since the war began, according to the United Nations. for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). Israel launched the war in response to a deadly attack by Hamas on October 7, which killed nearly 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage.

“Meanwhile, rocket attacks on Israel continue, more than 120 people have been taken hostage in Gaza, tensions are boiling over in the West Bank and the prospect of further territorial expansion of the war seems dangerously close,” he said. Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

According to UNICEF, as drought conditions increase, young children face higher risks of severe malnutrition. Survivors speaking to CNN from the southern city of Rafah said basic necessities such as fruits and vegetables were unaffordable.

Griffiths urged the parties to “meet all their obligations under international law, including to protect civilians and meet their basic needs, and to immediately release all hostages,” adding that the international community “must use all its influence to make this happen.

“We continue to demand an immediate end to the war, not only for the people of Gaza and their terrified neighbors, but for future generations, who will never forget these 90 days of hell and attacks on the most basic teachings of humanity,” he added. .

“This war should never have started,” Griffiths said. “It’s time for it to end.”
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