This came in a statement issued by the office in response to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) global initiative's official declaration of famine in Gaza City.
According to the statement, the 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.2 million children, have effectively entered the fifth stage of famine, the most severe form of hunger, as a result of the continued Israeli closure of the crossings and the prevention of the entry of the quantities required for this large number of citizens.
Since May 27, under international and media pressure, Israel has allowed the entry of only a few dozen aid trucks, covering between 14 and 15 percent of Gaza's needs, leaving the vast majority without sufficient food.
Most trucks arriving in Gaza are subjected to looting and theft by local gangs, which the Government Media Office says operate under the protection of the Israeli occupation army. This prevents the goods from reaching the needy and starving, and instead sells them on the black market at high prices.
The office stated that "the Israeli narrative's duplicity reveals the truth," explaining that "the occupation had previously denied the existence of a famine in Gaza, before acknowledging it through the army's Coordination of Activities office, which spoke of the start of aid truck deliveries and approved airdrops." The office considered this to be "an implicit admission of the crisis."
Recently, the United Nations World Food Programme warned that "a third of Gaza's population (out of approximately 2.4 million Palestinians) has not eaten for several days."
The government media office in Gaza emphasized that exceptional mechanisms such as airdrops "are only used in life-saving emergencies," which in itself constitutes "an admission of the existence of a catastrophic food crisis," noting that the truck numbers announced by Israel are "evidence of guilt."
He continued: "The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said it has brought in 10,000 trucks since May, at a rate of 90 trucks per day, representing only about 15 percent of the minimum required to meet basic needs, estimated at about 600 trucks."
Editor's Picks
Amid plans to occupy Gaza, 72% of Israelis support a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas amid a loss of confidence in Netanyahu.
The occupation commits a massacre against the displaced and destroys large areas in the Zeitoun neighborhood. UNRWA demands an end to the famine disaster.
The occupation continues its aggression on the village of Al-Mughayyir for the third day, uprooting hundreds of trees and storming several areas in the West Bank.
International organizations revolt against Israel after famine is officially declared in Gaza. Guterres: A man-made disaster.
The government office called for "immediate pressure on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza and allow the entry of sufficient, regular, and unhindered humanitarian aid, as determined by international and UN organizations, which ranges between 550 and 600 trucks per day as a minimum." It also called for "ensuring the protection of relief convoys and their personnel, and preventing any interference or organized looting."
According to the IBC report, "514,000 people in Gaza are living in a state of actual famine, with the number expected to rise to 641,000 by the end of next September, and the famine's scope to expand even further than it is now."
On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared a "state of famine" in Gaza City, predicting it would spread to the governorates of Deir al-Balah (central) and Khan Yunis (south) by the end of September. Israel quickly attacked the report, despite its reliance on data and facts, claiming it was based on "telephone" testimonies.
IBC is an international initiative to analyze food security and nutrition situations, bringing together 21 prominent organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), Oxfam, and Save the Children.
Since March 2, Israel has evaded further implementation of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, closing Gaza's crossings to aid trucks stacked along the border.
Despite the backlog of aid trucks at the entrances to the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to prevent their entry or control their distribution outside UN supervision, and in extremely meager quantities that "are barely a drop in the ocean," according to UN and international reports.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The Israeli genocide left 62,263 Palestinians dead, 157,365 injured, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that claimed the lives of 273 people, including 112 children.
