As Israel’s offensive in Gaza rages on, people across the entire Gaza Strip find themselves in increasingly dire circumstances , with nearly the entire population experiencing high levels of food insecurity , including malnutrition, hunger and starvation . A famine review analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reported on June 25, 2024, that “a high risk of Famine persists across the whole Gaza Strip as long as conflict continues and humanitarian access is restricted.” The Conversation asked Hasan Khatib , an expert in genetics and epigenetics, to explain the growing crisis in the Gaza Strip and what history lessons from earlier famines can teach us about the short- and long-term consequences of starvation, malnutrition and food insecurity.
Food insecurity refers to the lack of regular access to safe and nutritious food necessary for normal growth and development and maintaining an active, healthy life. Severe food insecurity is characterized by running out of food and going a day or more without eating, leading to the experience of hunger. An initiative called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification , or IPC, managed by United Nations bodies and major relief agencies, was established in 2004 to enhance analysis and decision-making on food security and nutrition.
The IPC classification system identifies five distinct phases of food security:1. Minimal/none; 2. Stressed; 3.
Crisis; 4. Emergency; 5. Catastrophe/famine.
The IPC estimates .