UN Security Council Warned of Gaza Famine: “Children Are Slowly Dying”
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday heard harrowing warnings about the famine now unfolding in Gaza, as international aid groups accused Israel of systematically blocking food and essential supplies during nearly two years of war.
Inger Ashing, president of the global humanitarian organization Save the Children, told the council that famine is not just a technical label but a grim reality.
“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” Ashing said.
She described the devastating effects of hunger on children, from the body consuming its own fat, then muscles, and finally vital organs. “Our clinics are almost silent. Children no longer have the strength to speak or cry out. They simply lie there, emaciated, wasting away,” she added.
Aid groups have long warned of famine as Israel’s blockade restricted supplies into Gaza. “Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” Ashing urged the Security Council.
The UN officially declared famine in Gaza last Friday, citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC). The report said famine is already affecting some 500,000 people in Gaza governorate — roughly one-fifth of the territory, including Gaza City — and could spread to two-thirds of Gaza’s population by the end of September.
Following the meeting, 14 Security Council members — all except the United States — issued a joint statement expressing “profound alarm and distress” over the famine. They also voiced full confidence in the IPC’s findings.
“The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” the statement declared.
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