The recent pause in fighting in the Israel-Hamas war revealed to humanitarian agencies how dire the situation in Gaza has become. Diplomacy, which secured the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza, must continue along with increased food and humanitarian aid to save lives. Famine in Gaza is inevitable if the Israel-Hamas war continues. The war must stop.
During the pause in fighting that started Nov. 24, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) was able to reach areas of Gaza they had not been previously able to access. What the WFP and other relief agencies witnessed was a rapidly worsening hunger crisis with starvation looming.
"What we see is catastrophic. There's a risk of famine and starvation on our watch and to prevent it, we need to be able to bring in food at scale and distribute it safely," said Corinne Fleischer, WFP's director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since Hamas launched the deadly terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. Israel has responded by attacking Hamas, which is based in the Gaza Strip.
The war has drastically worsened food shortages in the already impoverished Gaza. Bombed out bakeries show how the food systems are collapsing. Starvation has now become reality for potentially over a million Palestinians in Gaza, many displaced from their homes by the fighting.
Civilians in Gaza depend now on deliveries from the WFP and other relief agencies. But the humanitarian aid that has been allowed to enter Gaza through Egypt's border is not nearly enough. Until the recent pause in fighting, WFP had not been able to reach northern Gaza with any aid for weeks. The situation has become desperate.
The WFP has launched a massive emergency operation to feed over 1 million civilians in Gaza. But the WFP said "this can only happen with increased, sustained supply corridors into Gaza, the ability to rotate staff in and out with safe humanitarian access, and additional support from donors."
Lack of funding has harmed WFP's mission in Gaza all year long. This summer the U.N. food agency had to reduce rations to Gaza and the West Bank because of a lack of resources. We cannot afford that to happen again during this emergency. Funding needs are going to increase in Gaza and so too must donations. The world needs to pay attention to hunger in the region.
A massive hunger crisis for Gaza will claim more civilian's lives and stunt the growth of children who do survive. The charity CARE and the UNRWA are also warning of water shortages in Gaza. Food, water, medical supplies, shelter, and other basics are all in short supply.
How can any peace emerge upon such suffering? Continued fighting will not bring peace to the region, but instead continue the cycle of violence that has gone on for decades. War plants the seeds for future battles.
We want Israeli and Palestinian children to grow up free from war and to live in peace. But Gaza lying in ruins and with civilians starving to death is not the road to peace. Any peace between Israel and Palestine cannot be founded upon hunger and deadly malnutrition.
Diplomacy is the best hope for increasing food supplies and other humanitarian aid into Gaza, gaining the safe release of Israeli hostages, and giving hope for a peaceful resolution. The United States must take the lead in bringing diplomacy, food aid, and hopes for peace in Gaza and throughout the Middle East.
William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by The Washington Post, History News Network, Cleveland's The Plain Dealer and many other news outlets. Lambers recently volunteered to write the Hunger Heroes section of WFP's online learning game Freerice.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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