Geneva [Switzerland], August 23 (ANI): UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher issued a stark condemnation of the famine in Gaza, describing it as a preventable crisis fueled by “systematic obstruction” by Israel and a global failure that will “haunt us all.”
During a press briefing Friday, following confirmation from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed initiative, that famine is currently occurring in Gaza, Fletcher urged immediate action, including a ceasefire and unrestricted aid access, to avert further catastrophe.
Pointing to the IPC report, Fletcher noted the human toll, stressing that food aid is piling up at borders due to Israeli restrictions, creating a famine “within a few hundred meters of food, in a fertile land.”
“Please read the IPC report, cover to cover. Read it in sorrow and in anger. Not as words and numbers but as names and lives. Be in no doubt that this is irrefutable testimony. It is a famine. The Gaza famine. It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. It is a famine within a few hundred meters of food, in a fertile land,” Fletcher said.
He painted a grim picture of the crisis, noting that it disproportionately affects the vulnerable and forces harrowing choices, such as deciding which child to feed and risking lives to find sustenance.
“It is a famine that hits the most vulnerable first. Each with a name, each with a story. That strips people of dignity before it strips them of life. That forces a parent to choose which child to feed. That forces people to risk their lives to seek food. It is a famine that we repeatedly warned of. But the international media has not been allowed in to cover it. To bear witness. It is a famine in 2025. A 21st-century famine watched over by drones and the most advanced military technology in history. It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war,” the UN relief chief said.
Fletcher emphasized the global responsibility for the crisis in Gaza, declaring: “It is a famine on all of our watch. Everyone owns this. The Gaza famine is the world’s famine. It is a famine that asks, ‘But what did you do?’ A famine that will and must haunt us all.”
He described the situation as “a predictable and preventable famine. A famine caused by cruelty, justified by revenge, enabled by indifference, and sustained by complicity.” He urged the international community to let it “spur the world to more urgent action” and “shame the world to do better.”
Calling for immediate action, Fletcher issued a direct plea to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and world leaders for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access.
“Enough. Ceasefire. Open the crossings, north and south, all of them. Let us get food and other supplies in, unimpeded and at the massive scale required. End the retribution. It is too late for far too many. But not for everyone in Gaza. Enough. For humanity’s sake, let us in,” Fletcher said.
According to Al Jazeera, citing Gaza’s Health Ministry, 273 people have died from malnutrition and starvation, including 112 children. Meanwhile, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 62,622 deaths and 157,673 injuries following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, which left 1,139 people dead and more than 200 taken hostage, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)
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