{"id":310816,"date":"2025-08-29T15:35:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=310816"},"modified":"2025-08-29T15:35:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:35:42","slug":"unog-stories-29aug25","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/unog-stories-29aug25\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO and OCHA Press Briefing: We are on a descent into a massive famine in Gaza, say relief agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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29 August 2025<\/p>\n

Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.<\/p>\n

Although the private aid platform run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation continues to receive its own supplies,\u00a0\u201cwe are on a descent into a massive famine\u201d,<\/strong>\u00a0insisted Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.<\/p>\n

Referring to the latest catastrophic assessment of food insecurity in Gaza from the UN-backed\u00a0IPC<\/a><\/em>\u00a0platform, Mr. Laerke noted that 500,000 people are in the worst possible situation today, with another 160,000 expected to be added to that number in the coming weeks.\u00a0\u201cThey all need food,\u201d he told journalists in Geneva. \u201cThe entire Gaza Strip needs food. There would not have been declared famine had there been sufficient amounts of food.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a related development, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the growing risk of communicable diseases in Gaza, with 94 suspected cases of Guillain-Barr\u00e9 Syndrome now reported.<\/p>\n

The disease can cause paralysis and is treatable in hospital with intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange, according to WHO. \u201cBut these two [treatments] are at zero stock, as are anti-inflammatories,\u201d said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, referencing ongoing Israeli aid restrictions impacting humanitarian relief supplies entering Gaza. \u201cThese deliveries must be urgently expedited as much as surveillance and testing capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 20 and 26 August, out of 89 attempts to coordinate relief missions with Israeli authorities across Gaza, 53 were facilitated, 23 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground, seven were denied and six had to be withdrawn by the organizers, OCHA said in an\u00a0update<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read more about this topic:<\/em><\/p>\n