Gaza officially enters 1st stage of famine amid Israeli blockade

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Gaza Strip has officially entered the first phase of famine amid Israeli curbs on the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave, local authorities said on Wednesday.

"Gaza has officially entered the first stage of famine, with nearly two million people completely losing their food security," Ismail Thawabteh, who heads Gaza’s government media office, said in a statement.

“The Palestinians are living an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe due to Israel’s closure of crossings and the blocking of the entry of humanitarian aid,” he added.

Thawabteh said all markets in Gaza have run out of basic food supplies, “depriving Palestinian residents of the most necessities of life.”

“Dozens of bakeries have stopped operating due to the ban on fuel imports, causing a major drop in the amount of bread available to Palestinians in Gaza,” he added.

On Friday, the World Food Program (WFP) said that it has not been able to transport any food supplies into Gaza since March 2, due to Israel's closure of all border crossing points for both humanitarian and commercial supplies.

Thawabteh said dozens of water wells have also stopped working, exacerbating a water crisis in the enclave.

“Life in Gaza is at the risk of a complete collapse in the coming days if the Israeli aggression does not stop and the crossings are not opened immediately,” he warned.

At least 436 people were killed and over 670 others injured in renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Tuesday, breaking a ceasefire agreement that took hold in January.

Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.