Famine playing out in Gaza under Israel's offensive, IPC says

The "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in the Gaza Strip under Israel’s assault, the world's leading body on hunger said Tuesday, as the total number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its offensive passed 60,000, according to the health ministry in the enclave.

The "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in the Gaza Strip under Israel’s assault, the world's leading body on hunger said Tuesday, as the total number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its offensive passed 60,000, according to the health ministry in the enclave.

"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said in its alert. The IPC emphasized that its warning constituted an alert and was not a formal “famine classification.”

The alert comes as deaths from starvation in the enclave continue to rise amid a spiraling hunger crisis spurred by Israel’s military offensive and crippling aid restrictions.

President Donald Trump on Monday echoed mounting global alarm at the conditions in Gaza, which he said amounted to “real starvation” — a break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With international fury reaching a crescendo, the Israeli military began limited pauses in fighting over the weekend to allow more supplies into the enclave — but aid organizations warned the trickle allowed in was not enough to stave off famine. Israel had allowed only a basic amount of aid into the territory for weeks after lifting a crippling blockade in May that barred the entry of food and other vital supplies.