On Monday, the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC) published a report on the situation in the northern Gaza Strip, concluding that there is insufficient reliable information to declare a famine. While some Israeli media outlets, including #Haaretz, perceive the report as a net positive for #Israel, the conclusion actually highlights the challenges posed by Israel's restrictions.
The FRC's inability to endorse the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) findings stems from the lack of access to Gaza, which prevents the collection of essential data required for its work. This underscores the limitations imposed by Israel's prevention of journalists and international organizations from entering Gaza and evaluating the circumstances on the ground.
Rather than being positive news for Israel, the report underscores the concerning lack of transparency and the inability of independent observers to accurately assess the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Ultimately, this lack of access and information is detrimental not only to the people of Gaza but also to Israel's stated commitment to facilitating humanitarian aid and relief efforts in the region.
[...] Firstly, all stakeholders who use the IPC for high-level decision-making must understand that whether a Famine classification is confirmed does not in any manner change the fact that extreme human suffering is without a doubt currently ongoing in the Gaza Strip and does not in any manner change the immediate humanitarian imperative to address this civilian suffering by enabling complete, safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access into and throughout the Gaza Strip, including through ceasing hostilities. All actors should not wait until a Famine classification for the current period is made to act accordingly.
[...] Secondly, the FRC would like to highlight that the very fact that we are unable to endorse (or not) FEWS NET’s analysis is driven by the lack of essential up to date data on human well-being in Northern Gaza, and Gaza at large. Thus, the FRC strongly requests all parties to enable humanitarian access in general, and specifically to provide a window of opportunity to conduct field surveys in Northern Gaza to have more solid evidence of the food consumption, nutrition, and mortality situation.