Global Community, Aid Groups Sound Alarm After UN Famine Declaration in Gaza

Rabat – The UN-backed declaration that Gaza is now facing famine has drawn urgent reactions from local and international leaders.

The Palestinian Health Ministry welcomed the announcement, saying it was appreciated despite its lateness. The ministry described the famine as part of a broader campaign of destruction targeting health services and communities. 

“We emphasize that the engineering of starvation is one aspect of the chapters of genocide, which also include the systematic destruction of the health sector and other sectors, mass killing, and the policy of exterminating generations,” reads the statement.

Officials warned that “hundreds” of deaths could have been prevented and that “thousands of lives are at stake,” calling on the international community to act beyond statements.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, urged the Israeli government to acknowledge the crisis. “All of those who have influence must use it with determination & a sense of moral duty. Every hour counts,” he said.

Humanitarian groups also sounded the alarm. Dan Stewart, head of news at Save the Children, spoke of the severe impact on children and mothers. 

Clinics in Gaza are overwhelmed, and more than half of pregnant women and new mothers are now malnourished. Stewart warned that Deir el-Balah could soon face famine if conditions do not improve.

Ahmad al-Farra, director of the children’s hospital at Nasser Medical Complex, described a dire malnutrition crisis, saying there are 120 cases of malnutrition in the hospital. 

“We need 10 hospitals to treat these children,” he said, stressing that tens of thousands of children in displacement camps are suffering.