Jerusalem, Dec 21 (EFE).- The Gaza Strip is facing the highest or “catastrophe” level of food crisis after nearly two and a half months of persistent conflict, the nonprofit Action Against Hunger warned on Thursday.

The humanitarian organization said that the declaration of famine in Gaza was based on the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, a food security framework that includes the United Nations, governments, and NGOs, including Action Against Hunger.

“At least one in four households faces conditions of catastrophic acute food insecurity. The lack of food is so extreme that they are experiencing starvation, alarmingly high rates of acute malnutrition among the youngest children, and a significant excess of mortality,” the NGO said in a statement.

It added that nearly every household in Gaza is skipping meals daily, with four out of five families in the north and half of the displaced families in the south enduring days and nights “without eating anything.”

The nonprofit expressed concerns that over 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is currently in crisis, emergency, or catastrophe phases of food insecurity, based on the IPC analysis.

In a time when access to those in need is more crucial than ever, most humanitarian organizations have minimized their operations in Gaza, mainly due to the resumption of Israeli attacks following a seven-day ceasefire in November, the organization said.

“Famine should never be used as a weapon of war. When people suffer extreme food shortages, they not only risk death but also go through severe physical and psychological deterioration,” the NGO said.

The organization urged the entry of further humanitarian aid into Gaza, where no supply was available in the local market with access to Northern regions remaining impossible due to ongoing conflict.

“The combination of relentless bombings, shortages of food, water, and fuel, and the inability of humanitarian agencies to operate in Gaza has led us to this desperate situation,” said Chiara Saccardi, head of Action Against Hunger in the Middle East.

“It is difficult to find flour and rice. We are experiencing a level of complexity in this emergency like never before,” she added.

The organization appealed for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza to facilitate a “meaningful humanitarian response” if the international community “wants to prevent people from dying of hunger and diseases.” EFE

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