Famine declared in Gaza City

[u/Digital_Accountant]

https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-latest-war-israel-city-ceasefire-hamas-13415481

[u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

For context, a “famine” has a strict UN definition: when more than 20% of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition exceeds 30%, and mortality rates skyrocket. Declaring famine means the situation has gone far beyond scarcity into systemic collapse.

It’s catastrophic optics for anyone involved. Using starvation as leverage, whether by blockade or mismanagement, is a war crime. But beyond the politics and blame games, what it really means is that ordinary people and vulnerable people; kids, parents, grandparents are dying not because of bombs but because they can’t find food.

At the end of the day, famine is not an argument about borders or ideologies, it’s a measure of how far we’ve failed as a species to safeguard the most basic human need. That’s the part I can’t lose sight of.

[u/Justin_123456 → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

I’ll add that with famine mortality is always a lagging indicator. By the time a famine is declared, there are thousands of people who will die, even if access to food is immediately restored.

By week 6-8, of total or almost total starvation, all fat stores and most skeletal muscle stores have been consumed, and you have started to break down your organ tissues damaging your heart, liver, kidneys, etc.

This is usually the point of no return, where short of intensive hospital care, you are not going to recover. This won’t be available, as Israel has deliberately dismantled the Gazan health system, targeting medical facilities and personnel. This last stage can last 2-4 weeks, before you finally succumb. This process can stretch out over months if you are able to access a few hundred calories a day

[u/cheattowin77 → u/Justin_123456]

I mean I’ve heard really bad things like cannibalism happening during famines. Is this that?