All but one of the 15 members of the UN Security Council – the US – declared that the famine in Gaza is a “manmade crisis” and warned that using starvation as a weapon of war is prohibited under international law and constitutes a war crime, during a meeting on 27 August.
The 14 council members announced in a statement that they support an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, a significant surge of aid throughout Gaza, and for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on relief deliveries.
“Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” the statement read. “Time is of the essence. The humanitarian emergency must be addressed without delay and Israel must reverse course.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has officially declared famine in Gaza for the first time in a report issued on 22 August, and warned it will likely spread.
The assessment found that 514,000 Palestinians – nearly a quarter of the enclave’s population – are already experiencing famine, a figure projected to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
Israel demanded that the IPC retract its findings, dismissing them as false and biased. Tel Aviv claimed the assessment relied on partial data from Hamas and failed to consider what it called a recent influx of food.
At the UN Security Council meeting on Gaza, acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea also attacked the IPC report, saying it “doesn’t pass the test on either.”
She acknowledged that hunger is widespread and that humanitarian needs “must be met,” but framed addressing those needs as a US priority rather than endorsing the IPC’s declaration.
Since its creation in 2004, the IPC has declared famine only five times, most recently in Sudan last year. Its decision to apply the same classification to Gaza underscores the severity of the crisis.
Hellbound and Down 