I don’t know what the technical definition of famine is. I am not sure it is very important. To me at least. What I do know is that what is happening in Gaza is horrible. No matter what Israel or its shield, the United States, says, what is happening in Gaza is horrible and to permit it to continue is incomprehensible. No civilized society should permit it to continue. To continue to support Israel in implementing what is going on is unconscionable or a civilized society.
Of course, both Israel and its main supporter claim it is not famine and is caused by Hamas and not them. They were both outraged at those who said otherwise. But Hamas is all but destroyed. It has always been a pipsqueak compared to Israel, but after nearly 2 years of war it is much less than that. It is completely helpless in the face of the Israeli assault. This can no longer be blamed on Hamas with any credibility. It is no longer a threat and it has been punished enough. There is no point to any more death.
For the first time, since the war in Gaza which started nearly 2 years ago the international organization that monitors and categorizes hunger crises around the world has declared that parts of Gaza are in famine.
As Nick Schifrin, a highly respected reporter for the Public Broadcasting Corporation in the United States said, “The experts group is called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. And it’s concluded that, after 22 months of war, the half-a-million people living around Gaza City face famine.” Think about that for a moment. In Gaza 500,000 people are in the midst of famine while nearby is food brought by humanitarian organizations that Israel refuses to allow into the country! Israel would rather let the people including men, women, and children, all starve than allow food to come in to the country. This is a moral outrage created by people who receive billions in aid from the United States. This is a disgrace that will haunt Israel and its unwavering ally, the United States, forever.
As Amna Nawaz, PBS News Hour host said,
“The U.N.-backed group of international experts said today that half-a-million people in Gaza, one-quarter of the population, are facing — quote — “catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death.” And they warned that famine would spread within weeks without a cease-fire and a massive infusion of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
In other words, unless aid is allowed in things will get even worse.
Tom Fletcher the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said this:
“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 fact, all members of the United Nations Security Council, except the United States said that Gaza was experiencing famine.
Does it really matter whether this is technically a famine or not? Does it matter whether this is a war crime or not?
What matter is that this must stop. Now.