Famine ‘Imminent’ In North Gaza As Palestinians Continue To Starve: IPC Report

Posted on 18/03/2024 by Boris Clair

A harrowing food insecurity report has concluded that famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, as millions of starving Palestinians face “catastrophic” food conditions in the territory amid Israel’s continued blockade of humanitarian aid.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report was released on Monday by the World Food Program. The IPC is an international process for estimating the scale of hunger crises, and serves as one of the international community’s primary sources for food insecurity data around the world.

According to the report, North Gaza and area governorates are projected to meet the definition of famine ― the IPC’s fifth and most severe phase of acute food insecurity ― anytime between now and May. In North Gaza, food security and malnutrition have become crises at the most dire level of the IPC’s scale.

Gaza’s southern governorates of Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah are presently classified as IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) situations in the report. These governorates, however, face a risk of famine through July in a worst-case scenario, according to the data.

Per the ICP, Gaza’s entire population of 2.23 million people are enduring high levels of acute food insecurity. About half of those people are expected to suffer “catastrophic conditions” if Israeli forces launch their planned ground offensive into the packed southern city of Rafah.

“The upward trend in non-trauma mortality is also expected to accelerate, resulting in all famine thresholds likely to be passed imminently,” the group’s report said.

In December, the IPC warned that there needed to be an immediate reduction of hostilities and an increase in humanitarian access in order to prevent a “realistic chance” of starvation in Gaza. The agency’s analysis at the time said that Gaza’s crisis is “the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity that the IPC initiative has ever classified”.

“If no steps are taken to cease hostilities and to provide more humanitarian access, famine is imminent,” Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, said Monday. “It could already be occurring. Immediate access is needed to facilitate delivery of urgent and critical assistance at scale.”

Gaza’s current crisis stems from Israel’s ongoing military campaign launched after Hamas militants attacked that country on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly another 250 hostage. More than five months later, the Gaza Health Ministry ― which has a record of providing casualty figures that closely reflect the UN’s own ― reports that Israeli forces have killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, wounded nearly 73,400, displaced almost the entire population and blocked civilians from accessing most aid deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicine.

The dire situation in Gaza is “simply unbearable” and “unjustifiable”, according to Hiba Tibi, country director for aid group CARE International in Gaza and the West Bank. “Our earlier fears that more would die in Gaza from hunger, dehydration and disease than from bombs, were well-founded, sadly. Starvation is cruel. It is a slow and painful death.”

“Our partners who run health centres in Northern Gaza have reported that the number of children categorized as having moderate or severe malnutrition nearly doubled in February, compared to January. Their staff report watching children get thinner and thinner as the days go by and of kids who can barely speak and walk due to starvation,” she continued. “We also hear of kids being born and dying in shelters without even being registered in the hospitals. It’s like they don’t exist.”

Boys wait while holding empty pots with other displaced Palestinians queueing for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16. — Boys wait while holding empty pots with other displaced Palestinians queueing for meals provided by a charity organization ahead of the fast-breaking “iftar” meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16.

The UN Children’s Fund recently warned that life-threatening malnutrition was “spreading fast”, supported by the IPC’s report detailing how adults in Gaza have reduced their meals so their children can eat. The FAO said that at least 10 times in the last month, almost two-thirds of northern Gaza households went “entire days and nights” without eating.

Northern Gaza was the first target of Israel’s invasion, and has become the centre of the territory’s humanitarian crisis, with much of the region completely destroyed. A third of children under two years of age in the north are acutely malnourished, according to the FAO, and the Gaza Health Ministry said last week that 27 Palestinians, mostly children, had died of malnutrition in the north.

Monday’s report confirms what aid groups have been trying to convey to the world about the starvation crisis facing Palestinians in the territory. The international community has continued to call for a permanent cease-fire, the release of all remaining hostages, accountability for civilian casualties and the safe passage and distribution of more aid to Palestinians.

“From the destruction of farms, flour mills and food processing sites, to ongoing fighting preventing the safe movement of humanitarian actors, to the blocking of aid, the people of Gaza are being starved to death. What’s worse, they have all too often been killed in attacks when seeking out food to keep their children alive,” Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of the aid group Mercy Corps, said in a statement, stressing that the denial of humanitarian access violates international law.

“We cannot wait for an official famine declaration in Gaza to act when it is abundantly clear that people are and will continue dying from hunger and malnutrition,” she continued. “Today’s report must be a wake-up call for all parties with leverage over Israel to dramatically change course. Gazans cannot wait any longer.”

U.N. Security Council Passes Resolution On Aid For Gaza After U.S. Resistance

Posted on 22/12/2023 by Boris Clair

The United Nations Security Council on Friday passed a resolution aimed at increasing humanitarian aid for Gaza — overcoming intense resistance from the U.S. that ultimately forced diplomats from multiple countries to weaken the potential effect of the initiative.

The U.S. abstained from voting on the resolution while 13 other council members voted for it.

The resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Arab and Muslim states, focuses on helping the more than 2 million people in the territory who have been growing increasingly desperate since Israel launched a massive, U.S.-backed offensive there to strike Gaza-based militants responsible for an attack in Israel on October 7.

On Thursday, the world’s top tracker of hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said more than 90% of people in Gaza now face high levels of acute food insecurity, calling that the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity the group has ever classified for any area since it was launched in 2004.

The U.S. ― which has the power to veto Security Council resolutions ― says it believes more aid must get into Gaza faster, but President Joe Biden has been reluctant to pressure Israel, which largely controls aid flows, to take tangible steps to make that happen.

In negotiations over the just-passed resolution, American diplomats told foreign counterparts they did not want to veto it but strongly resisted language proposing limits to Israel’s military operation on humanitarian grounds and shifting oversight of aid to the U.N., a step the U.S. has supported in other war zones.

Diplomats this week told HuffPost they repeatedly assessed a U.S. veto as a near certainty. The council delayed the vote by multiple days at the U.S.’s request.

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through a crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip on Dec. 18.

“The U.S. was at an advantage in negotiations this week because most council members believed that Washington was willing to cast another veto, despite the reputational costs,” said Richard Gowan, the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group think tank.

The U.S. was widely criticised for vetoing a Security Council vote for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza earlier this month; nearly all other countries on the council and the overwhelming majority of U.N. member states support that idea.

The final language ― which directs the U.N. to quickly establish a new aid coordinator position ― drew mixed reviews.

Russia and China, which also have veto power at the council, threatened on Thursday night to bar the resolution because they deemed it insufficient, a Muslim diplomat told HuffPost.

Still, some observers expressed hope the appointment of a coordinator will be a way to pressure Israel to allow in more assistance and praised the resolution’s calls for adherence to international humanitarian law.

“I understand some Arab diplomats think that the text is too weak, and it is certainly incredibly convoluted at certain points. But it also creates some opportunities for [U.N. Secretary General Antonio] Guterres to try to reinforce U.N. humanitarian operations in Gaza,” Gowan told HuffPost.

Louis Charbonneau, the U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, said the passage of the resolution should push all parties involved to change course to address the crisis.

“The U.S. needs to ensure that Israel implements it. Israel must immediately stop the atrocities ― no more collective punishment, no more starving and unlawfully bombing civilians,” Charbonneau said in a statement. “The council sent a clear message to Palestinian armed groups to end indiscriminate rocket attacks and release all civilian hostages. The Israeli military should also restore essential services for Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to reach all those in need.”

On Friday, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield rejected the idea that the resolution was too weak, calling it “a strong step forward.” The U.S.’s Gaza policy of largely unchecked support of Israel has complicated the position of Thomas-Greenfield and her team, U.S. officials recently told HuffPost.

“Linda Thomas-Greenfield and her team were effectively able to play the good cop with other council members, nudging them towards a deal, while everyone feared that Biden would play bad cop and insist on a veto,” Gowan said, saying the U.S. was able to “extract a lot of concessions.”

He noted that the UAE ― a close American partner ― faced particular pressure to reach a workable compromise because their term on the council will soon end. Meanwhile, “the Russians were pretty obviously looking for a way to force the U.S. into a veto.”

“The U.S. did genuinely make some concessions of its own, although mainly on points of language such as the use of the word ‘cessation,’” relating to the prospect of continued fighting, Gowan added.

Earlier in the day, a U.N. expert made a striking warning about the ramifications of Israel’s ongoing campaign, raising the specter of permanent displacement for millions of Palestinians.

“As evacuation orders and military operations continue to expand and civilians are subjected to relentless attacks on a daily basis, the only logical conclusion is that Israel’s military operation in Gaza aims to deport the majority of the civilian population en masse,” Paula Gaviria Betancur, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, announced. The majority of people in Gaza are themselves descendants of Palestinians who were forced out of their historic neighborhoods amid the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Closed-Door UN Meeting Stokes Fears Of Taliban Recognition

Posted on 02/05/2023 by Boris Clair

Thousands of people around the world are protesting against the ongoing closed-door United Nations meeting about the future of Afghanistan, as fears grow that the talks could lead to the Taliban being recognized as a legitimate governing group.

Diplomats from nearly 25 countries and groups — including the US, China and Russia, as well as major European aid donors and key regional neighbors like Pakistan — are attending the two-day meeting chaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Taliban were not invited to attend the meeting, and they have expressed their displeasure over the exclusion.

The attendees are set to discuss key issues affecting Afghanistan, including terrorism and women’s rights, according to the UN.

Activists against the U.N. formally recognizing the Taliban hold banners during a demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 30.

After regaining power in 2021, the Taliban has cracked down on women’s access to public life, including barring them from attending universities and high schools. The group also decided last month to enforce a ban on Afghan women working for the UN, which the UN warned could force closure of their operation in Afghanistan.

However, shortly after the Taliban announced the ban, senior UN official Amina Mohammed suggested finding “baby steps” toward “recognition” of the group. Later, the UN retracted her comment and clarified that the Doha meeting is not focused on recognition.

Still, Mohammed’s comments have contributed to widespread concerns about the meeting, with critics pointing out a lack of transparency about the discussions.

Civil society groups and human rights activists highlighted their apprehensions about the possible recognition of the Taliban in an open letter to the UN shared on Sunday.

“Past experiences show that giving into the demands of such regimes by compromising on human rights will only strengthen their grip on power, and prolong the suffering of the people of Afghanistan,” the letter reads.

They also insisted that women of Afghanistan should be “meaningfully represented” in all talks regarding its future.

A member of Taliban fires in the air to disperse the Afghan women during a rally to protest against Taliban restrictions on women, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 28, 2021.

Videos have surfaced on social media showing women in Kabul protesting against the Taliban, holding up placards with slogans such as #NoToTaliban and #AfghanWomenLivesMatter. They can be heard chanting “Taliban recognition is a disgrace to the world” and “We will fight, we will die, but we will get our rights”.

“Taliban are terrorists and criminals,” Amiri, a protester in Kabul who is being identified by a pseudonym due to fear of retaliation from the group, told HuffPost. “The UN must not turn a blind eye to the plight of Afghan women and recognize a terrorist organisation that has no achievement except for oppressing women.”

“It’s funny that we have come to a point where the recognition of the Taliban is a topic of global discussion,” Amiri said. “In a fair world, Taliban should be brought to the International Criminal Court to face justice for the decades of crimes they have committed against the people of Afghanistan.”

Along with those in Kabul, hundreds of Afghan diaspora members and activists worldwide, including in Washington, DC, raised their voices in support.

During a press briefing at the State Department on Tuesday last week, department spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US has no intention of acknowledging the Taliban regime, and that the Taliban’s ongoing human rights violations, particularly against women and girls, are a major obstacle to its goal of being recognised internationally.

Zelenskyy: Russians Committing ‘Most Terrible War Crimes’ In Ukraine Since Second World War

Posted on 05/04/2022 by Boris Clair

Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council remotely on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the alleged atrocities uncovered in recent days as Russian troops moved out of areas in northern Ukraine.

“The most terrible war crimes we’ve seen since the end of World War II are being committed,” Zelenskyy told the council assembled in New York City, later arguing that “Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves.”

Zelenskyy proposed a tribunal for Russians who ordered or carried out war crimes similar to the Nuremberg trials in the years directly following the second world war.

Ukrainian authorities and journalists have seen evidence of widespread civilian casualties in Bucha, a suburban area northwest of Kyiv. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the casualties as evidence of “a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape” ― not “the random act of a rogue unit.”

President Joe Biden on Monday called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be held accountable for the violence, which he described as a war crime.

Russia has repeatedly asserted that the violence was committed after its forces left the region. Blinken, however, said Tuesday that reports of atrocities committed by the Russians are “more than credible.”

“I’m addressing you on behalf of the memory of the deceased,” Zelenskyy told the U.N. council. “They died suffering.”

He alleged that Russian troops searched for and killed “anyone who served our country,” including entire families, executing many people in the street. Other people were thrown in wells, Zelenskyy claimed, and some had their limbs or tongues removed. Photographs showed that some of the dead had their hands tied behind their backs.

The world has yet to see the full extent of the brutality, Zelenskyy added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remotely addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York City on April 5.

The Russians’ behavior is “no different than ISIS,” Zelenskyy said. “And here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council.”

The Ukrainian leader condemned the group, whose permanent members include the Russian Federation, for not doing more to end the conflict. He proposed three options: Remove Russia from the security council, reform the council, or dissolve it completely.

Citing what he called Ukraine’s “moral right” to propose reforms, Zelenskyy argued that Russia’s veto power makes the council worthless in fulfilling its main purpose of peacekeeping.

There is currently no process for removing a member of the security council.

“Accountability must be inevitable,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian delegation sent a video to be played following the president’s remarks, but technical issues prevented it from being shown immediately afterward.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield subsequently announced that the U.S. would seek to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council, noting that Russia has used false allegations of human rights abuses on the part of Ukraine to justify its invasion.

Kenya’s United Nations Speech On Ukraine Praised For Citing Africa’s Colonial Legacy

Posted on 23/02/2022 by Boris Clair

Martin Kimani used his address at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to warn Vladimir Putin to respect Russia’s border with Ukraine and highlight the dangers of stoking the “embers of dead empires”.

His remarks came after the Russian president ordered troops into eastern Ukraine – under the fabrication of “peace keeping” – after recognising the independence of two separatist regions, a move criticised globally as a breach of international law.

Kimani said the birth of Kenya and Ukraine’s independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union had the “ending of empire” in common.

He said rather than engage in “bloody wars” that would be raging decades later, Africa opted to “settle for the borders that we inherited”, even if there was a “yearning for integration with peoples in neighbouring states”. Kimani added Kenya “rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force” and “we reject it again today”.

A clip of the address, which came hours after Putin had given a rambling speech re-writing the history of eastern Europe, was viewed more than 3 million times from one Twitter feed.

“Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris, and Lisbon with no regard for the ancient nations that they cleaved apart.

“Today, across the border of every single African country live our countrymen, with whom we share deep historical, cultural, and linguistic bonds.

“At independence, had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic, racial, or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later. Instead, we agreed that we would settle for the borders that we inherited, but we would still pursue continental political, economic, and legal integration. Rather than form nations that looked ever backwards into history with a dangerous nostalgia, we chose to look forward to a greatness none of our many nations and peoples had ever known.

“We chose to follow the rules of the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations Charter, not because our borders satisfied us, but because we wanted something greater, forged in peace.

“We believe that all states formed from empires that have collapsed or retreated have many peoples in them yearning for integration with peoples in neighbouring states. This is normal and understandable. After all, who does not want to be joined to their brethren and to make common purpose with them?

“However, Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued by force. We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression. We rejected irredentism and expansionism on any basis, including racial, ethnic, religious, or cultural factors. We reject it again today.”

Putin also ordered the deployment of Russian forces to the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine “keep the peace” – though commentators have warned not to be fooled by the language.

Rita French: ‘Pandemic Heightened Risk Of FGM’

Posted on 04/02/2022 by Boris Clair

Last November I visited the county of Kajiado in Kenya, a short drive from Nairobi – the first county in Kenya to launch a robust policy designed to end female genital mutilation.

FGM is one of the most extreme examples of gender-based violence around the world. The physical, psychological and emotional impacts of being subjected to FGM last a lifetime.

At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, and more than 45 million more girls are at risk during this decade. Devastatingly, the pandemic has heightened the risk.

I arrived in a village in Kajiado to a warm Maasai welcome of traditional singing and dancing – a community proud to share their story.

I joined a group of older Maasai women who had been the ‘cutters’ performing FGM on women and girls. This was a tradition practised for generations and a source of livelihood for many. They explained to me that they had now downed their tools and committed to joining efforts to end FGM.

So how did this happen? A local programme, funded through the UN, had been established to engage and educate the community about FGM. Importantly, the programme also addressed the need for these women to have alternative sources of income. Today, they make jewellery that I am proudly wearing.

Rita French with Aggie Leina, Director of Kenya’s Anti-FGM Board.

I had the pleasure of meeting Aggie, who is leading conversations with men and women – young and old alike – and changing attitudes towards FGM. Aggie also runs a shelter providing housing and security for 150 girls that have survived FGM. Aggie told me her purpose in life is to end FGM. We owe so much to the brave and inspiring work of community champions like her.

The young women I met in the village appeared more hesitant to express their views. Efforts must continue to empower them to speak up for their rights.

The men, on the other hand, were vocal about their commitment to ending FGM. The older men told me that, whilst they are proud of their culture, they did not want pain and suffering inflicted on their daughters. And I spoke to young men who didn’t want this fate for their future wives: a young generation committed to driving change.

Kajiado County is clearly on the right track to ending FGM. I left the village truly invigorated and hopeful that young girls there will have a very different future.

Rita French and UNFPA Executive Director Monica Ferro in a discussion with Maasai women

Changing the law can help to create the right legal environment to end FGM. Political leadership at the highest level is also key. In Kenya’s case, both exist: the President has made a powerful commitment to end the practice by the end of this year, which is accelerating progress.

But this isn’t enough. Real change will only be achieved when communities are fully engaged and involved. It means listening to everyone and being cognisant of local values. It means taking a holistic approach and offering alternative sources of income where necessary. Ending FGM will require changing hearts and minds. And that’s where community leaders like Aggie come in.

Sunday marks International Day for Zero Tolerance Against Female Genital Mutilation. It fills me with hope that the work being done in Kajiado County represents a powerful model that can be replicated in other parts of Kenya and beyond.

The UK is committed to supporting the UN and the Africa-Led Movement to give women and girls the freedoms they need to succeed.

Rita French is Britain’s Global Ambassador for Human Rights and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Global Population Could Hit 9.7 Billion By 2050, UN Predicts

Posted on 17/06/2019 by Boris Clair

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