Head of USAID Says Palestinians in North Gaza Are Already Experiencing Famine
AntiWarApr 11
US Says Famine Has Begun in Gaza
The Facts
The head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, claimed Wednesday that Northern Gaza is already facing a famine. She is the first US official to publicly make such a claim.
Power cited a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) from last month, which projected that 210K Gazans would face "IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe)." She noted that her office had previously reviewed and vetted the "methodology" used in the assessment.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
The US and Israel continue to make empty promises with no genuine, tactical support to help Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe. With 33.5K Palestinians already dead and Israel delaying its promise to open new aid routes, estimates put the number of dead Gazans at 100K by August. The genocide has already begun, but the world, unfortunately, may not notice for months.
Pro-establishment narrative
No one doubts that Gazans are starving, but that has to do with Hamas stealing aid deliveries. Estimates also show that Palestinian bakeries still have the capacity to make over 2M rolls and pita breads per day, with its land still able to produce enough fruits and vegetables. Israel has taken responsibility for its World Central Kitchen mistake, but it can't do so for the plethora of other incidents, not its fault.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that there will be over 50K civilian deaths in the Israel-Gaza conflict by July 1, 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.