DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) 鈥� The world鈥檚 leading authority on food insecurity said Thursday that the situation in had improved since in parts of the Palestinian territory last year, but warned that conditions are still at crisis levels.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said a reduction in fighting and the fact that was allowing more aid into Gaza had a 鈥渟ignificant impact, albeit unevenly across areas.鈥� But it said most families in the war-battered enclave still weren’t getting nearly enough to eat.
鈥淓ven small disruptions to humanitarian access could rapidly reverse recent gains,鈥� the report warned.
Covering a period of April through June, the IPC report shows that although conditions have markedly improved since last year, there鈥檚 of pulling Gaza鈥檚 2.1 million Palestinians out of this crisis.
Israel鈥檚 military , leaving Palestinians confined to squalid tent camps and heavily damaged urban neighborhoods. have contributed to routine disease outbreaks and left residents with inconsistent access to basic services.
The lines at charity kitchens remain long and prices remain elevated, according to Palestinians in the territory and data from the Gaza Chamber of Commerce.
鈥淭he situation is very tragic,鈥� said Rana Abu Bakr, a displaced mother who says her family relies on a charity kitchen in Khan Younis each day. Other than that, she said, 鈥淭here鈥檚 no water, no food, nothing to drink. Prices are exorbitant.鈥�
For children, living such a long time without enough food has contributed to a rise in reported cases of 鈥渟tunting,鈥� a condition where impaired growth causes lifelong consequences, the IPC report said.
鈥淢any children are still going hungry, and some children may never fully recover from prolonged lack of proper nutrition,鈥� UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
Israeli strikes and shelling have also killed more than 1,185 people since , according to the territory鈥檚 health ministry.
More aid has helped the food crisis in Gaza, but not ended it
The IPC is a panel of food security experts that the United Nations and aid agencies rely on. It measures things like how many households experience extreme food shortages, how many young of malnutrition and how many people are .
It has declared famines in other places, including parts of and . But the declaration last August of famine in parts of Gaza was its first in the Middle East.
IPC uses five phases to classify food insecurity. Last summer, it confirmed the most severe classification 鈥� famine 鈥� in Gaza Governorate, which covers Gaza City. Thursday鈥檚 report classified all five governorates in the territory as now being in Phase 3 鈥渃risis鈥� conditions. It estimated that more than 200,000 residents were experiencing the higher Phase 4 鈥渆mergency鈥� conditions.
Although acute food insecurity 鈥� when households can’t get enough food to survive 鈥� remains at crisis levels, the authority said acute malnutrition 鈥� the physical effects of not eating enough 鈥� declined to levels classified as acceptable, despite last year鈥檚 warnings.
Israel says the hunger assessment is flawed
Israel strenuously denied allegations of widespread hunger and manmade famine in Gaza, calling them lies. But after imposing an almost total blockade on humanitarian aid from early March to mid-May last year, it began allowing more aid into the territory. Israel controls the flow of all food entering Gaza, both aid and commercial goods sold in markets.
The IPC’s latest findings were rejected by the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian affairs in Gaza, called COGAT. It said the IPC overlooked Israeli data showing the number of trucks entering Gaza was nearly three times a required amount Israel independently calculated using World Food Program benchmarks.
Israel argued that the bigger problem was how food was distributed in Hamas-controlled areas, not how much was getting in.
Aid groups, however, say Israel has increasingly relied on commercial traders instead of humanitarian organizations. Medical workers in Gaza say this shift has left many people eating food that’s less nutritious.
鈥淎 lot of these things coming in on these trucks are harmful,鈥� Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American pediatrician who has worked in Gaza, said earlier this year. That’s because sugary drinks and other packaged foods could shock kids’ bodies after months of acute malnutrition, she said.
COGAT acknowledges that commercial goods account for about half of what enters the territory since the October ceasefire, but denies giving them priority over aid.
There are signs things are getting worse, report says
As the world鈥檚 attention has shifted to Iran, efforts to advance , or transition governance to a U.S.-led have mostly stalled.
The IPC said the fragile and partial improvements could deteriorate. Roughly 1.4 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity through the end of the year, about 200,000 more than current levels.
The report warned that programs, including for pregnant and breastfeeding women, were shrinking in size 鈥渄ue to funding constraints and uncertainty鈥� over whether Israel will continue allowing international aid groups to operate, the report said.
Israel introduced new registration rules for international NGOs last year that require organizations to disclose extensive information that some aid groups say could endanger staff and force them to .
鈥淭hese gains are good, but they are due to the level of humanitarian assistance 鈥� particularly food assistance 鈥� we鈥檝e been able to bring into Gaza in the past seven months,鈥� Ross Smith, the World Food Program鈥檚 director of emergency preparedness and response. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really critical that these gains are maintained. And for that we need to have continued access and continued funding.鈥�
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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press journalists Najib Joubain in Cairo and Sam Mednick in Tamariu, Spain, contributed.
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