A year after the start of the Israeli offensive, the population is finding it increasingly difficult to access food in a situation of extreme food insecurity. “A year ago, the malnutrition situation was not the one we know today,” denounces the NGO Action Against Hunger. Cristina Izquierdo, nutrition and health coordinator of the emergency team of this NGO, assured this Wednesday during a meeting with the press in Madrid, that currently, despite the complexity of having precise screening, child malnutrition is between 10 and 16%. Last year, the NGO treated more than 47,000 people – including pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children under five – against malnutrition.
To deal with this situation, “food supplements are essential”, but to guarantee them it is essential that safe access is allowed for the distribution of medicines, explained Izquierdo, who has visited the region on several occasions. Gaza Strip this year. Jean-Raphaël Poitou, head of advocacy in the Middle East for the organization, assures that the problem arises when “food enters the area” because “85% of the Gaza Strip is not safe and is under military evacuation order. The organization denounces Israel’s violation of humanitarian law, which creates obstacles and increases hunger.
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), said on Wednesday that “more than 1.4 million people have not received food in the Strip Gaza during the month of September. In his statement via the social network
Poitou, who was in Lebanon barely a week ago, warned of the enormous risks of the conflict extending to that country: “The situation is worrying because we see a modus operandi similar to that in Gaza. Hunger must not be used as a weapon of war. Poitou also denounced the psychological terror that Israel exercises against the Lebanese population, through “precise bombings or low-altitude aircraft flights which emit sounds similar to those of bombs in Beirut”. September 23 was the deadliest day for Lebanon since the 2006 civil war.: 550 people died in just 24 hours and, according to data from the organization that had to move its team to northern Lebanon, the destruction of infrastructure and basic supply chains (telecommunications, health and education) affected more than 150,000 civilians and destroyed 1,800 hectares of agricultural land.
Inflation and destroyed land
Poitou denounces the extreme situation experienced by the population of the Gaza Strip, with “the desperation of the people who end up attacking the trucks” and, in extreme cases, “dying of starvation”. The most common foods available are canned products. Another factor to take into account is inflation and the almost daily evolution of prices in the region. For example, the price of a kilo of tomato, before October 7, was 0.36 euros. Now, in the north of the Gaza Strip, the price is 71.61 euros for the same amount and 8.35 euros in the rest of the territory.
“It is essential to support local farmers,” explains Natalia Anguera, regional manager of Action Against Hunger in the Middle East. “Food security is a guarantee of dignity and autonomy; and the deliberate destruction of agricultural land also implies a destruction of the local market, which generates increased dependence on external aid. Experts say 75% of Gaza’s agricultural land has been destroyed. “It would take 14 years to clear the agricultural areas of the remains of the devices launched by the Israeli army in the region,” Anguera stressed.
The NGO compares the current situation with that of a year ago, when Gaza had a certain self-sufficiency thanks to the work of local farmers and the water distribution system, despite the Israeli blockade. Also in the West Bank, access to local products has been made difficult by attacks on infrastructure, such as irrigation pipes.
After the Iranian attack on Israel and the start of a ground operation by Israeli troops in Lebanon, Anguera sent a clear message: “Gaza has disappeared from the news, but it must continue to be present.”
