By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US expressed concern on Monday over a UN-backed report warning of an imminent famine in northern Gaza, likely to occur by May, describing it as "alarming" and "heart-wrenching."
"We have seen this alarming and heart wrenching report, and it is quite stark," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
"There are children who are starving, that are malnourished as a result of the fact that humanitarian assistance can't get to them," he said. "That is why we believe so strongly that everything must be done to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance."
He stressed that "sustained humanitarian assistance" is required and "unhindered land convoys" are irreplaceable in addition to the delivery of food via maritime routes, and airdrops.
When asked if Israel is hindering the flow of aid across the land, Patel responded by saying that it was not he was "meaning to imply".
Patel's remarks came after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative's (IPC) report indicating that famine is "imminent" in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and the entire population of Gaza is facing "crisis levels of food insecurity or worse."
"According to the most likely scenario, both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) with reasonable evidence, with 70% (around 210,000 people) of the population in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe)," said a special brief by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC).
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
More than 31,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in the enclave, and nearly 73,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60%of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.