UN famine declaration confirms months of starvation, says Oxfam
Iran Press TV
Friday, 22 August 2025 6:32 PM
The international charity Oxfam says the UN-backed food security body's declaration of famine in Gaza City confirms what the charity and its partners have been documenting for months across the besieged Palestinian territory.
"The famine in Gaza is entirely driven by Israel's near-total blockade on food and vital aid, the horrifying consequence of Israel's violence, and its use of starvation as a weapon of war," said Helen Stawski, policy lead at Oxfam's British branch.
The Oxfam official further noted that Israel had deliberately been preventing humanitarian organizations from delivering basic supplies and vital necessities into Gaza for several months.
"Despite warnings in July that famine was imminent, Israel has continued to deprive Palestinians of food, denying almost every request from long-established humanitarian agencies, preventing them from delivering vital food and aid that could have stemmed hunger, malnutrition and disease," Stawski stated.
She said that Oxfam had more than $3.3 million worth of aid, including high-calorie food packages, sitting in warehouses outside Gaza.
"Israeli authorities have rejected it all, at a time when it is needed more than ever," she added.
Stawski said the failure of the UK government "to put any meaningful pressure on Israel, standing idly by as people - including babies - starve to death, is as bewildering as it is reprehensible. This has to stop," she stressed.
In an earlier statement, Oxfam said Israel was starving people in areas where famine is now classified, while persisting with plans to forcibly displace the starving population out of Gaza City.
The charity strongly denounced inaction by the international community against Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza.
"Other governments that could have done more to stop Israel are complicit in enabling genocide and war crimes by their silence, inaction and the continuation of many to supply Israel with arms."
Oxfam called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the complete lifting of the blockade, and entry of urgent humanitarian aid on a large scale through all crossings.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), highlighted that "months of warnings have fallen on deaf ears," but now that the famine is confirmed in Gaza City and the surrounding areas, it is "time for political will" to end it.
UNRWA chief held Israel accountable for starvation and famine in the besieged Palestinian territory.
"This is starvation by design and man-made by the Government of Israel. It is the direct result of banning food and other basic supplies for months, including from UNRWA," Lazzarini said.
The UNRWA emphasized that the spread of famine can still be controlled by a ceasefire and allowing humanitarian organizations to do their work and reach starving people with aid.
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of the US-based aid group Mercy Corps, Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, also called the UN announcement of a famine in Gaza City "absolutely horrifying, yet not surprising."
"This is the direct result of months of deliberate restrictions on aid, the destruction of Gaza's food, health and water systems, and relentless bombardment. This is a man-made catastrophe, entirely preventable and entirely unconscionable," McKenna said, adding that Mercy Corps staff were also facing dire conditions in Gaza.
"We're watching our own team members waste away. They're standing in food lines, skipping meals so their children can eat, and risking their lives daily just to find bread and water," she stated.
McKenna said that while the organisation has supplies for 160,000 people waiting at crossings, some goods have already expired due to delays, as Israel has sealed all crossings into the coastal enclave.
"What we are witnessing in Gaza is a moral failing of the highest order. The world knows how to stop a famine - we just need the will to act," the Mercy Corps chief added.
In a grim assessment released Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine had taken hold in and around Gaza City, the besieged region's largest urban center.
The area is home to between 500,000 and 800,000 people, most of them displaced and living without proper shelter under the weight of Israel's months-long blockade and bombardment.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed nearly 62,263 Palestinians and injured 157,365 since October 7, 2023.
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