Gaza far exceeds famine-level food shortages, mass death imminent, monitor says

CAIRO/JERUSALEM/LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Extreme food shortages in parts of the Gaza Strip have already exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire and surge of food to areas cut off by fighting, the global hunger monitor said on Monday.

The Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC), whose assessments are relied on by U.N. agencies, said 70% of people in parts of northern Gaza were suffering the most severe level of food shortage, far exceeding the 20% famine threshold.

The IPC said it did not have enough data on death rates, but estimated residents would be dying at famine scale imminently, and children under four may already be.

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