Ever since Israel broke the ceasefire in
Gaza and then denied any shipment of
food aid into Gaza for two months, I
think it was in total, some of the stuff
has been allowed in. Now, of course,
there's a very controversial
distribution of aid by the Gaza
Humanitarian Fund uh with over a
thousand Palestinians being killed
trying to get hold of any kind of food.
What is what has happened and it is
deeply shocking uh and and obviously
traumatic uh for people in the Gaza
Strip, other Palestinians, but also
around the world is that starvation has
taken place. The the UN has now
officially declared it to be a famine.
And let's be clear, this is a man-made
famine. This is not a natural disaster.
That is this is entirely concocted by
the reality created by the IDF and the
Israeli government. Just as Prime
Minister Netanyahu has announced that uh
the war will be stepped up. Um there's a
full scale occupation, military
occupation going on of the last place
that wasn't completely destro destroyed
and that was Gaza City. This as and we
should mention this obviously as well as
the hostages still have not been
released. There are still 20 living
hostages or so and then the bodies of
another 25 or more in the Gaza Strip.
They should also be released immediately
by Hamas. That is not taking place. But
I want to talk in particular about
starvation and about famine and and what
are what you know how do you how do you
get out of it? What kind of lasting
effects does it leave? What does it do
to a population especially a young
population. Um let's speak to Riham
Jafari. She's the advocacy and
communications coordinator at Action 8
Palestine and joins us now live from the
West Bank. Good morning Reham.
>> Good morning and thanks for having me.
>> It's good to speak to you. Tell us about
starvation and famine. What are the
official designations, definitions of
famine and why do you think or why do
people think that that is now taking
place in the Gaza Strip?
>> Thank you. Thanks again. So uh the
famine or starvation it is lack of
access to food and um um feeling hunger
and feeling malnutrition and uh
um lack of ability to move to work feel
exhausted
lack of access to basic uh food and
water. we we we here here need to focus
on the lack of clear water in Gaza which
is another aspect of famine in Gaza. So
this famine and uh the and starvation
that it is being um taking a place in in
Gaza, it is a a man-made famine um
resulted and caused by relentless
bombing by severe closure and preventing
the delivery of aid
by Israeli army and Israeli authorities
for months since the first day of the
war, Israel use the food and the
starvation as a weapon of war by
preventing and by hindering the h
delivery of food, closing the borders. H
what is being h delivered to Gaza is
very limited that couldn't cover um um
um only 15% of the needs of Gaza. So um
the people in Gaza, the children, the
the pregnant women, the lacting woman,
the breastfeeding woman, the mothers,
the the parents uh are suffering from
malnutrition. Many of them and
especially in the Gaza city suffer from
the acute malnutrition and yes this
famine is the famine of the this century
is famine that it is unfolding before
the eyes of the war. The complicity and
the silence of the world
of the world and the world governments
and the world word leaders let this
famine to continue and to reach uh this
level. We repeatedly erh warned and
issued many statements, many press
releases, many warnings
indicating that famine will be a a um a
third a
a sure result and
um
credit. Can
>> sure let me interject quickly, Ram. I
mean of obviously the Israeli government
is viciferously denying that they're
using starvation as a weapon of war.
They are saying that there is no famine
and that and some of them are even
saying that the pictures of of very very
um skinny kids, you know, bones and skin
that those are concocted. That's fake
news. That's what they're saying. Um and
and you obviously disagree with that. I
just wonder if we can talk about the
specifics uh for a minute. The Israeli
government has also said, this is
according to, you know, Israeli
newspaper reports inside Israel, that
they calculated that the amount of
calories they would allow into the Gaza
Strip per person was about 1,250.
That is that is not a lot, is it?
>> I didn't hear the last sentence for But
in general, I want to emphasize and
>> No, no, I don't want to go before we go
general, I want to do specifics here. Do
the the Israelis apparently, you know,
when when they calculate how much food
is permitted into the Gaza Strip, they
are they have come to the conclusion
that 1,250
calories per person per day is enough to
keep the population alive but not very
well fed. Have you heard about these
numbers and what do you make of them?
So what uh we we know that the people in
Gaza are um are sick and are patients
and are suffering and because of the
lack of nutritious food many of them do
not have protein, chicken, meats, eggs
for months and months the the the
nutrition and feeding the people is not
counted with the number of calories. To
have a healthy people, you have to
provide all kinds of foods. You have to
remove all the restriction on aid and
the humanitarian aid. The h the fresh
vegetables, the agricultural lands and
the fish sectors were completely
demolished by this war. So the people
need more food, more nutrition foods.
The formula baby, the milk and the
breastfeeding is missing in Gaza. So the
the causes for these uh for for these uh
malnutrition rates is the lack of food
is the denial access of food is the
denial access of medicine is the denial
access of medical supplies. Here in Gaza
we are not talking about the the need
for delivering food. There is an urgent
and essential needs for delivering
medicine for delivering medical
equipment. Sure. But even the male
nutrition, the male nourished parents
and the male nurse children know that
they will not be recovered and they will
not be able to access medical treatment
in Gaza hospitals because the the the
the essential food, the needed food is
missing.
>> I I totally understand that. And of
course, one doesn't want just, you know,
the calorie count. You want a rounded
diet. You know, you got to eat healthy
food, not just stuff those calories in.
Um but but that is that is the
calculation that has been made. I don't
think the Israeli army or anyone else
for that matter even aid agencies in
famines necessarily look at balanced
diets. They just look at the the sheer
number of calories that can be put into
people. Just finally though, Reham, what
effect do you think all this
malnutrition,
starvation and famine will have
especially on younger people in Gaza?
It will impact their health, their
recognition, their uh growth, their
mental status, their understanding,
their interaction. This impact will will
last for decades and will affect their
personality,
their interaction. It couldn't be even
cured or treated within the collapse of
the health system in Gaza. Again, there
is no time for the people of Gaza. The
time has running for the people of Gaza.
What is needed? A a a immediate
ceasefire and crossing and open opening
all the crossing borders and removing
all the restrictions on the humanitarian
aid. And the world should act. The world
should act to adhere to its
responsibility. Yeah. To its humanity,
to its moral
responsibility by stopping this war by
>> and and and you have said that before
and and I think many people would agree
with you that what is really needed
right now is an immediate ceasefire. In
fact, that was needed many many months
ago. We're going to have to leave it
there, I'm afraid. Ram Jafari, she's the
advocacy and communications coordinator
at Action Aid Palestine. joining us
there from the West Bank.