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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53 were facilitated, 23 were initially approved but then impeded on the ground, seven were denied and six had to be withdrawn by the organizers, OCHA said in an update.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.
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