USAID administrator says it is ‘credible’ to assess famine is already occurring in parts of Gaza

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages on, the top US humanitarian official stated on Wednesday that it is “credible” to conclude that hunger is already setting in in some areas of Gaza.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power is the first official to openly concur with an assessment that famine is already occurring in the war-torn strip, despite the fact that US authorities have been raising the alarm about the impending risk of famine there.

The evaluation is probably going to encourage more people to demand that the government limit the military assistance it provides to Israel. Any nation that “prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance” is prohibited from receiving aid under the Foreign Assistance Act.

Leading figures in the Biden administration, including President Joe Biden, have warned Israeli leaders that unless they take quick action to alleviate the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza, US policy may shift.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday that while “Israel has made important commitments to significantly increase the supply of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza and has taken some initial actions as well to move on those commitments,” the real focus will be on “sustained results,” which is what we will be closely monitoring in the coming days.

Speaking at a congressional hearing, Power was questioned about whether it “is plausible or likely that parts of Gaza, and particularly northern Gaza, are already experiencing famine” in reference to an assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

“We had our experts scrub the methodology that the IPC used,” Power declared. “Their assessment is one that is trusted in other contexts, and we think that assessment is credible.”

“There is already a famine there, then?” Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, asked the administrator.

“Yes, that is,” she answered.

“Latest evidence confirms that Famine is imminent in the northern governorates of the Gaza Strip and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to an IPC report published in mid-March.

The analysis concluded, “The most likely scenario places 70 percent of the population, or about 210,000 people, in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), with reasonable evidence placing both the North Gaza and Gaza Governorates in IPC Phase 5 (Famine).”

Whether this is the analysis presented in the hearing is unknown. USAID has been contacted by TFD.

According to Power, “before October 7, the rate of malnutrition in northern Gaza was almost zero.” And currently, one in three children have it.

“There hasn’t been enough food flowing in to prevent this impending famine in the south and these circumstances that are already causing child fatalities in the north,” the speaker stated.