David Lammy accuses Israel of causing 'man-made catastrophe' as famine declared in Gaza City
David Lammy has accused Israel of causing a “man-made catastrophe” after a famine was officially declared in Gaza City.
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On Friday, the international body responsible for monitoring world hunger formally, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), officially stated that famine is taking place in the “Gaza Governorate”.
The area includes Gaza City, which is home to around 500,000 people, surrounding towns and various refugee camps.
British foreign secretary David Lammy described the situation in Gaza as a “moral outrage” as he slammed Israel’s refusal to allow aid into the besieged city.
Lammy called on the Israeli government to "immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further"
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He described famine in Gaza City as "utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable".
"The Israeli government's refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage," he added
"The IPC report makes clear the sickening consequences, especially for children. The Government of Israel can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further."
He called for an "immediate ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas, which has long been the position of the British government.
"This includes halting the military operation in Gaza City, which is the epicentre of the famine," he added.
The IPC is a globally recognised system for determining the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition and has been used to declare just four famines since being created in 2004.
Under its strict criteria, at least 20 per cent of households must face an extreme lack of food, with at least 30 per cent of children suffering acute malnutrition, for famine to be decared.
And two people for every 10,000 must die each day due to “outright starvation”.
It raised its classification to Phase 5 - the highest and worst level of its food insecurity scale.
By the end of September, the IPC said that more than 640,000 people will be in the Phase 5 classification.
“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions, characterised by starvation, destitution and death,” an IPC briefing shared with the Telegraph stated.
The famine is projected to spill out to the governorates of Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month, it added.
An additional 1.07 million people – more than half of Gaza’s population – are already facing “emergency” levels of food insecurity, the second-highest level on the scale, the briefing continues.
According to the IPC, access to food in Gaza remains "severely constrained" and by July the number of households reporting very severe hunger doubled across the territory compared to May and more than tripled in Gaza City.
More than one in three people (39percent) indicated they were going days at a time without eating, and adults regularly skip meals to feed their children.
Meanwhile, malnutrition in children is accelerating at a "catastrophic rate" with more than 12,000 identified as acutely malnourished in June.
That month, the UN warned a generation of children in Gaza face "malnutrition, catastrophic food insecurity and famine" unless more humanitarian aid enters the Strip without restrictions.
The UN has described the situation as "beyond catastrophic".
Rejecting the findings of the UN-backed report, Israel refuted the existence of a famine in Gaza and claimed it was "Hamas lies".
It has also said Gaza will be destroyed if Hamas does not agree to disarm and release all hostages.
Taking to X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added: “The IPC report is an outright lie.
“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation.
“Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person.”
The Gaza health ministry has said at least 271 people have died of "famine and malnutrition" since Israel launched its assault on the region in October 2023, including 112 children.
53,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since Hamas launched its October 7 attack, according to health authorities in Gaza.