Overview

• The IPC, a technical consortium, has declared famine in Gaza and warned starvation is rapidly spreading.
• UNICEF’s Catherine Russell estimated about 18,000 children have died since the conflict began, roughly 28 per day.
• Israeli authorities, including COGAT and the prime minister’s office, rejected the IPC finding and alleged bias.
• Russell urged immediate, unhindered humanitarian access and said the crisis is not caused by natural disasters.
• She criticized the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s four distribution sites versus roughly 400 used by UN agencies and pressed for international media entry.