We're just getting reaction from the UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterish
posting online. Just when it seems there
are no words left to describe the living
hell in Gaza, a new one has been added.
Famine. This is not a mystery. It is a
man-made disaster, a moral indictment
and a failure of humanity itself. Famine
is not only about food. It is the
deliberate collapse of the systems
needed for human survival. People are
starving. Children are dying. and those
with the duty to act are failing. As the
occupying power, Israel has unequivocal
obligations under international law,
including the duty of ensuring food and
medical supplies of the population. We
cannot allow this situation to continue
with impunity. No more excuses. The time
for action is not tomorrow. It is now.
We need an immediate ceasefire, the
immediate release of all hostages, and
full unfettered humanitarian access.
That was reaction from Antonio Guterish,
the secretary general of the United
Nations following that declaration of
famine in Gaza City, home to around half
a million people. These are live images
from Gaza. It is 12:25 there local time.
You can see the crowd of people there
around what we would assume to be a
water tanker, a water bowser,
potentially fuel, but I should imagine
water people there from the top of your
screen walking down carrying buckets.
Some of them carrying what appear to be
maybe just plastic bags as well. You've
got a variety of people, children, small
young children as well as adults,
parents, the door of that truck open.
You can see the banner, the humanitarian
banner on the front of it. some people
climbing up onto the roof of this
tanker. You can see that this is a scene
that we have seen so many times
throughout the course of this conflict.
It's a scene that Tess Ingram, Middle
East and North Africa communications
manager at
UNICEF has seen many times herself
joining us from Almoasi in Gaza about 15
to 20 miles southwest of Gaza City
itself. Good to have you with us. your
thoughts, if you will, on the
declaration of famine in Gaza City.
>> This is our worst fears being realized.
Um, like has been said by previous
speakers on the program just now, we
have been warning about this
consistently for about 22 months now.
The group of global experts that today
have confirmed famine is occurring in
Gaza City and could spread to other
parts of the Gaza Strip in coming weeks
first warned of the risk of famine in
December 2023. And yet here we are in
August 2025 and we have a famine on our
hands. Despite our best efforts, we
haven't been able to prevent this. And
that is a shame on on the whole
international community because this
could have been prevented. here in Gaza
have spent the past 48 hours at
nutrition points where UNICEF is trying
to help malnourished women and children
and these mothers are in tears because
they have exhausted all of their
options. They are watching their
children die and there is nothing that
they can do about it. Imagine being that
mother. That is the situation that
people are in at the moment. And
honestly, the scenes at these clinics
has shocked me. I've been to Gaza four
times and what I have seen this week is
the worst conditions among children that
I have ever seen.
>> You say there mothers in tears watching
their children die and being unable to
do anything about it. We've just heard
from the Israeli foreign ministry. It
says the IPC's published a tailormade
fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake
campaign. What do you make of that?
>> These are claims that we've heard before
and I think they're contradictory to the
evidence. They're contradictory to the
evidence that we have issued today in
this IPC report. They're contradictory
to what we are seeing here as
humanitarian aid workers on the ground
and to what the people of Gaza
understand. They know the conditions
that they are suffering through. And for
them, for these mothers, for these
children, it is very simple. They do not
have enough to eat. They are sick and
they are weak. They are fainting from
the lack of food. This is clear to the
intern to us and it should be clear to
the international community. It's been
livereamed into people's living rooms
for almost two years now.
>> The defense minister of Israel, Israel
Katz, with reference to the
military activity in Gaza City where
this famine has been declared, says soon
the gates of hell will open upon the
heads of Hamas. The impact though will
be felt widely amongst the civilian
population. And the UNRA boss Philipe
Lazarini yesterday said that many people
will not have the strength to undergo a
new displacement. Many will not survive.
What's your analysis of what impact this
increased military activity will have on
the young people and on the population
of Gaza City?
>> Well, Gaza City is the location where
famine has just been classified in the
Gaza Strip. So I think the impact of an
escalation of military activity in that
area is clear. We're talking about a
population of almost 1 million people
who are struggling to hang on. People
are exhausted. They're starving. Many
have been displaced. We spoke to people
there yesterday more than a dozen times
in the past two years. And they're again
facing the prospect of having to move.
If people are able to move and they want
to move, they have nowhere safe to go.
And if they cannot move, for example, if
they have a malnourished child, a baby
in an incubator, a child in an ICU unit,
they are out of options and there it's
serious risk if this military offensive
goes ahead. So we are urging for that to
be reconsidered and if it does happen to
make sure that civilians are protected
whether they leave or whether they stay
and that they have the basics that they
need to survive.
The integrated food security phase
classification has also warned that not
just in Gaza city is there famine
currently, but it could spread to
regions including Dear Albala and
Kununis which saw widespread fighting in
in previous months. It warns that famine
could be there by the end of September
based on current projections. What would
it take? How much aid do you need to
stop and reverse this situation?
I think that's a real risk. As I said,
I've been to these nutrition points in
in Dear Albala the last 48 hours and the
scenes were beyond belief. I met a
little girl called No, who was born
healthy at 4 kg and now at 14 months
old, she is just 5 kg, about half of
what she should weigh. Her 2-year-old
brother is malnourished. Her mother is
malnourished and that is not an uncommon
story. This is what we have to address.
At the moment, we are getting dozens of
trucks into the Gaza Strip every day. We
need five or 600. And we've proved that
that's possible. We can do that if we're
enabled. We did it during the ceasefire.
And that's the volume of aid that's
needed to stop this famine from
spreading. The time is now. We need the
Israeli authorities to open all of the
crossings to allow aid in at scale and
then to enable us to move that aid
quickly and safely to the people that
need it wherever they are, including in
Gaza City.
>> Tess Ingram of UNICEF joining us from
Alawasi in Gaza. I appreciate your time.
Thank you so