The UN Security Council discussed, in a session held on Tuesday evening, the catastrophic conditions and famine in the Gaza Strip.

The session was held at the request of Algeria, Guyana, Slovenia and Switzerland, following a recent report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (a team of leading independent international experts in food security, nutrition and mortality), which warned of an imminent and significant possibility of famine in northern Gaza due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Strip.

The Council heard briefings from officials from the UN Human Rights Office, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In her briefing, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris said that the humanitarian and human rights conditions of Palestinian civilians across Gaza are catastrophic.

She pointed out that the figures documented by the United Nations Human Rights Office indicate that nearly 70% of the martyrs in Gaza are women and children, adding that it is likely that "many of the dead and wounded are still under the rubble."

The UN official referred to the displacement of nearly 1.9 million people, "many of whom have been displaced multiple times, including pregnant women, people with disabilities, the elderly and children."

She said that Israeli raids on shelters and residential buildings kill an unreasonable number of civilians, "proving that there is no safe place in Gaza."

Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO Office of Emergency and Resilience, spoke to the Council about the dire food security situation in northern Gaza.

He stated that "the Famine Review Committee found a strong possibility of famine occurring or imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip."

He stressed that "agricultural food systems have collapsed", and that "nearly 70 percent of agricultural land, which contributed about a third of daily consumption, has been damaged or destroyed since the war began last year", calling for a ceasefire.

He said FAO was ready to step up its efforts to respond to and mitigate the famine, but “we cannot forget that peace is a prerequisite for food security, and the right to food is a basic human right.”