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About half a million people in Gaza face "catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity" as aid deliveries dwindle, a UN-backed report said.
The latest findings from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, conducted from May 27 to June 4, said about 495,000 people – 22 per cent of the enclave's population – are experiencing the highest level of starvation, known as IPC Phase 5.
The report said about 2.1 million people, or 96 per cent of the population of Gaza, will face high levels of acute food insecurity through to September.
The UN-backed agency projected previously that famine would occur in northern Gaza by the end of May, but it said an increase in food and aid deliveries in March and April "temporarily alleviated conditions in the northern governorates".
"In this context, the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring," said the IPC report, released on Tuesday.
But the Israeli offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, has contributed to worsening conditions in the besieged enclave in recent weeks, said the IPC, which was established in 2004 during the famine in Somalia.
"The humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip continues to shrink and the ability to safely deliver assistance to populations is dwindling. The recent trajectory is negative and highly unstable," the report added.
In May, the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt was closed, reducing humanitarian access to the nearly two million people sheltering in the south of the enclave.
The displacement of people to areas of Gaza with less water and limited health services "increases the risk of disease outbreaks, which would have catastrophic effects on the nutritional and health status of large segments of the population", the report said.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, said humanitarian assistance must be scaled up across Gaza.
"As the latest IPCC report makes alarmingly clear, humanitarian needs inside Gaza are catastrophic," she told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. "And humanitarian assistance must be scaled up and reach all in need across all of Gaza.
"With much of Gaza's population facing catastrophic levels of hunger, the situation is at risk of worsening rapidly, especially with sustained disruptions in aid flows."
The Gaza war began after the Hamas-led attack on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people in Israel. The retaliatory bombardment has killed more than 37,600 Palestinians, health authorities in Gaza said.
The conflict has destroyed most of the enclave's capacity to produce its own food and the UN's World Food Programme said the latest IPC report "paints a stark picture of ongoing hunger".
Humanitarian organisations are struggling to help those in need in southern Gaza, the WFP said. "Hostilities in Rafah in May displaced more than a million people and severely limited humanitarian access," the agency added in a statement.
"Meanwhile, the security vacuum has fostered lawlessness and disorder, which severely hamper humanitarian operations."
It said it feared southern Gaza could soon be gripped by the same levels of hunger recorded in the north.
"The improvement shows the difference that greater access can make. Increased food deliveries to the north and nutrition services have helped to reduce the very worst levels of hunger, leaving a still desperate situation," the WFP said.
Oxfam also responded to the report with a call for a ceasefire and the movement of aid into Gaza.
“Each day without a ceasefire, more lives will be lost. The clock is ticking. World leaders must increase pressure on all parties to agree to a permanent ceasefire, and on Israel to stop starving Palestinian children to death, by allowing sufficient humanitarian aid to reach them," Oxfam said in a statement.
“Israel must ensure that movement of aid into and within Gaza, including through checkpoints, is predictable, unfettered and dramatically accelerated, with all roads operational, the entry of sufficient fuel allowed, and access safely facilitated."
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
