The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
We are on a descent into a massive famine in Gaza, say relief agencies
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.
"We are on a descent into a massive famine," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, “and we need massive amounts of food getting into the Strip and safely distribute it across the Gaza Strip”.
Referring to the latest catastrophic assessment of food insecurity in Gaza from the UN-backed IPC platform, 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. “They all need food,” he told journalists in Geneva. “The entire Gaza Strip needs food. There would not have been declared famine had there been sufficient amounts of food.”
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-Barré Syndrome now reported.
The disease can cause paralysis and is treatable in hospital with intravenous immunoglobulin or plasma exchange, according to WHO. “But these two [treatments] are at zero stock, as are anti-inflammatories,” said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, referencing ongoing Israeli aid restrictions impacting humanitarian relief supplies entering Gaza. “These deliveries must be urgently expedited as much as surveillance and testing capabilities.”
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53 were facilitated, 23 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground, seven were denied and six had to be withdrawn by the organizers, OCHA said in an update.
STORY: Gaza update – OCHA WHO
TRT: 2’32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 29 AUGUST 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA
- Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, WHO
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “There are supplies going into these militarized distribution hubs, we don't have oversight over all of that. What remains is that we have a declared famine in Gaza and there are 500,000 people in that phase right now, expected to rise by about 160,000 more in the coming weeks. They all need food.”
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “The entire Gaza Strip needs food. There would not have been declared famine had there been sufficient amounts of food.”
- Medium-wide, UN Geneva Press room journalists, participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “The number to look at now is the number of people in IPC 5; and the number of people in IPC 5, that is going to go up in the coming weeks if nothing changes, because that rise is based on the assumption that nothing radically changes. So, we are on a descent into a massive famine and we need massive amounts of food getting into the Strip and safely distributed across the Gaza Strip.”
- Medium-wide, UN Geneva Press room podium, journalists, participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, WHO: “94 suspected GBS cases – Guillain-Barré Syndrome – reported across the Gaza Strip. This increase is partly also now due to increased surveillance after the first cases appeared; surveillance was increased especially by the Ministry of Health, with the support of WHO and the partners.”
- Medium shot, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, WHO: “There's the first line of treatment for Guillain-Barre which is called an intravenous immunoglobulin or a plasma exchange. But these are these two are at zero stock as are anti-inflammatories. And therefore, these deliveries must be urgently expedited as much as surveillance and testing capabilities.”
- Wide shot, TV journalists with video cameras, control booths.
- Medium, journalist.
- Medium, journalist.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: Life-saving medicines blocked as killing continues, disease gains ground
In Gaza, a dire humanitarian situation marked by continuing violence, rodent infestations and the spread of diseases is being made worse by blockages of essential medical supplies, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, warned against the continuing trend of involuntary returns of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from host countries to Afghanistan, in violation of international human rights and refugee law, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OHCHR
Lebanon's first responders face high risks amid conflict, with 116 killed since March.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN Human Rights Office report released today covers 19 months of large-scale violations of international law including atrocity crimes, from October 2023 to the end of May 2025.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
At least six million people in Somalia are going days without enough food, UN aid teams warned on Friday, highlighting that nearly two million of this number are young children “at high risk of illness or death”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.