The evidence has been gathered by
agencies on the ground in Gaza, and the
United Nations say it is irrefutable.
9-year-old Marian was filmed by UNICEF
in early July. This was her a month
later, featured in a World Food Program
video. She was a healthy 25 kilos until
the war. Her weight has dropped to less
than half that. or Salem filmed by ITV's
cameraman in Gaza today. 7 months old,
suffering from severe malnutrition, but
discharged after 40 days in hospital due
to a lack of medicine.
>> The hospital told me that his situation
is critical. I suffer with him a lot. I
can't find milk, food, supplements, or
nappies. There are so many other
children in the same situation at the
hospital, and they can't help them
either.
[Applause]
The report was compiled by the
integrated food security phase
classification. A lengthy name, but the
single word it deployed, famine, evokes
strong emotions. So note how many times
it was repeated by the former British
diplomat who's now the UN's emergency
coordinator. It is a famine, the Gaza
famine. It is a famine openly promoted
by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of
war. It is a predictable and a
preventable famine. A famine caused by
cruelty, justified by revenge, enabled
by indifference,
and sustained by complicity.
But he's been criticized in the past by
the Israeli government, which doubled
down on its response. The IPC report is
an outright lie. It said Israel does not
have a policy of starvation. Israel has
a policy of preventing starvation.
And yet, if the Israeli policy was
working properly, there wouldn't need to
be food dropped haphazardly from the air
and fought over on the ground.
>> Israel operates a blockade, insisting on
making its own decisions on how aid is
delivered, which may not get to those
most in need. The foreign secretary,
David Lammy, called the IPC report
utterly horrifying. One of his
predecessors said it was a moral and
political scandal. The diplomatic
machinery needs to go into overdrive.
Obviously, President Trump is a critical
player in this. The United States has a
unique relationship with Israel. It has
more influence than anyone else.
>> Isn't it actions which will change
things? Does it needs Britain to break
off diplomatic relations?
>> I think we need more dialogue with
Israel, not less. We need to make sure
that the full force of cross party
opinion is felt and the full force of
international opinion is felt as well.
Fighting over the word famine seems
trivial compared to the conflict on the
ground. These are some of the latest
victims. Among them, a child who died
instantly in an artillery strike. A
quick death which comes to many, while
those who survive face the prospect of
more prolonged suffering.
>> Ian, I'm mindful that Israel is
currently preparing another military
operation in Gaza City. Uh, is this
classific classification going to make
it any more likely that food is going to
get to the people that need it? It seems
unlikely. I mean, the first step might
be a unified approach from the
international community to defend the
integrity of these statistics because,
as we've heard, Israel utterly rejects
them. And instead, to counter them,
Benjamin Netanyahu's office produced its
own figures today about how much aid it
says Israel has delivered since May.
10,000 aid trucks, 500 tons of baby
food, more than 2 million food packages.
But dozens, maybe hundreds of people
have been killed at these rather chaotic
food distribution sites. To aid in
agencies, the solution is very simple.
Open every crossing. Open every road.
Repeat what happened earlier in the year
when there was a temporary ceasefire.
Allow international trucks in. Israel
says no because Hamas steals uh the
food. But it's hard to see how the
language of condemnation gets any
stronger. The UN Secretary General
Antonio Gutierrez said today just when
it seems there are no words left to
describe the living hell in Gaza, now a
new one has been added. Famine. Now he
and dozens of aid agencies are laying
the blame firmly at Israel's door. They
call it a man-made famine. And they
predict the numbers will grow to perhaps
even more than half the population with
this war intensifying.