00:00The IPC is a UN-backed group, and what they do is they measure three elements.
00:09One, at least 20% of the population has to be experiencing severe food shortage.
00:15Two, one out of three children are acutely malnourished.
00:18And three, two people are dying per day out of the 10,000 inhabitants due to hunger malnutrition.
00:26But these statistics don't capture the horror of starvation.
00:30They don't capture each individual's struggle.
00:32And these statistics, whenever the IPC declares a famine, it's already too late.
00:37The IPC always uses very conservative numbers, which means the situation is far worse than they're able to capture empirically.
00:45You've been calling for this declaration for quite some time, as I understand.
00:50Does it change anything, though?
00:53Does this sort of formal declaration change anything?
00:58Well, it's not a formal declaration.
01:00It's a measure.
01:01It's a reaffirmation.
01:02They are confirming what we all knew for the last year.
01:05There has been starvation for the last 22 months.
01:09Israel announced its starvation campaign on October 9th, 2023, and implemented it.
01:15And then, again, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that nothing will enter Gaza on March 1st.
01:22So from March 2nd until May 19th, no food, no water, no medicine entered Gaza.
01:28That's 78 days during the war, while at the same time Israel is destroying all the food system, orchards, fishing boats, farms.
01:38So at this point, what this IPC report is, it answers the question finally.
01:44There is a famine.
01:45There is no doubt.
01:46The question today now is, what is to be done?
01:49The Israeli government has rejected this announcement today.
01:54It says it is letting aid in.
01:57Can you take us through some of the challenges in that aid, actually getting to the people who need it, like those children in that story there?
02:08After 22 months of being starved, people in Gaza need a lot of assistance to live with dignity.
02:14They need a lot more than just basic food and basic medicine.
02:18They need significant care.
02:20And what Israel has done over the last 22 months is they've restricted humanitarian aid, they've denied humanitarian aid, and at times they've actually attacked and struck humanitarian convoys on purpose.
02:33So even when aid gets through, they're killing aid workers, a record number of aid workers have been killed, and they're killing civilians seeking aid.
02:41So what is needed is for the UN and for the International Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to be allowed in unfettered, and there needs to be a ceasefire.
02:51Israel is denying the UN full access, and it's not agreeing to any ceasefire, even though the International Court of Justice has recognized starvation and famine and called for a ceasefire.
03:01Even though the International Criminal Court, back in March of 2024, issued arrest warrants, excuse me, in November 2024, issued arrest warrants for the war crime of starvation against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence, Gallant.
03:18And those ICJ cases are still ongoing, of course, as we know.
03:23What are the longer-term effects of famine?
03:27If and when this war is over, what is the recovery process like from famine?
03:35I mean, there's the physical trauma, of course, and as we saw, unfortunately, children are the first to be affected, and they're going to live with the children that experience wasting and stunting.
03:47Their physical and mental development has been limited for life.
03:51But there's the social trauma.
03:53The social trauma of famine will last for generations.
03:55We know this from experiences in Bangladesh and in Ireland.
03:59And so to your question on what is to be done, the Security Council usually is the place that would respond to an IPC report like this.
04:06But the United States will continue to veto any call for a ceasefire.
04:10So that means what needs to happen right now is the General Assembly has the authority to call for peacekeepers, to accompany humanitarian convoys, to enter into Gaza and end Israel's starvation campaign and this genocide.
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