World Food Programme: About a Third of Gaza's Population Has Not Eaten for Days

SadaNews - The World Food Programme, part of the United Nations, told Agence France-Presse that about a third of Gaza's population has not eaten for days, adding that the crisis has reached "new and astonishing levels of despair."

The World Food Programme reported that "almost one in three people has gone days without food. Malnutrition is worsening, with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment." The programme had previously warned of the "severe risk of famine" in Gaza.

It stated that 470,000 people are expected to face "catastrophic hunger," the most dangerous category under the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, between May and September of this year.

The head of the main United Nations agency for Palestinian services said his staff on the front lines are suffering from hunger, while the number of people dying from hunger in Gaza continues to rise.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Thursday: "This escalating crisis affects everyone, including those trying to save lives in the war-torn sector... when caregivers cannot find enough food, the entire humanitarian system collapses."