Was there a famine in Gaza in 2024?
Think tank: Institute of Development Studies
Author(s): Stephen Devereux
November 5, 2024
This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies explores whether there was a famine in Gaza in 2024.
Three assessments by the international community concluded that there was ‘a risk of famine’ in December 2023, that a famine was ‘imminent’ in March 2024, but that this threat had receded by June 2024 as restrictions on humanitarian relief were eased.
Nonetheless, other sources including the World Food Programme assert that a famine did occur in northern Gaza in April–May 2024.
This paper reviews the evidence and concludes that, whether or not a ‘technical’ famine occurred, Israel’s use of food as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza caused avoidable hunger and starvation deaths, and almost certainly constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity.
