The request for retraction of the report by the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network followed public criticism of its findings from the US ambassador to Israel.
A food crises monitoring organization withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in northern Gaza after the United States government asked for its retraction, the Associated Press has reported, citing US officials.
The request for retraction of the report by the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) followed public criticism of its findings from the US ambassador to Israel, reported AP.
It said that the report’s finding of famine under Israel’s “near-total blockade” would be “a rebuke of Israel,” the US’ close ally.
Inaccuracy Claims
Ambassador Jacob Lew on Tuesday issued a statement in which he claimed FEWS NET “relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate.”
The US ambassador is boasting of how well Israel has ethnically cleansed north Gaza, expelling or killing almost all Palestinians there.
FEWS NET is the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. It published a report warning of famine in north Gaza, under Israeli blockade.
However,… https://t.co/eyBNcnBY1U pic.twitter.com/87cscRG1Pn
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 25, 2024
Alleging that the report was “irresponsible,” Lew said that the civilian population in northern Gaza was “in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report,” adding that COGAT estimated between “5,000 and 9,00” and UNRWA estimate figures of between 10,000 and 15,000.
AP reported that FEWS NET, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), had “confirmed” that it had “retracted its famine warning” and expected to rerelease the report in January “with updated data and analysis.”
Numbers Dispute
The report noted that the “dispute points in part to the difficulty of assessing the extent of starvation in largely isolated northern Gaza,” where thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee in recent weeks under an Israeli siege on the territory. The blockade has severely hampered the delivery of food, water and aid.
‘No Food, No Water’ – UNRWA Warns Besieged in Northern Gaza ‘Will Die of Hunger’
According to AP, FEWS NET “said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying of starvation and related ailments in north Gaza to reach between two and 15 per day sometime between January and March.”
The internationally recognized “mortality threshold for famine is two or more deaths a day per 10,000 people,” the AP report added.
FEWS said in its report, according to AP, that “its famine assessment holds even if as few as 10,000 people remain.”
Criticism
The request for the report to be withdrawn has been met with condemnation from human rights officials.
Oxfam America’s Director of Peace and Security, Scott Paul, said Ambassador Lew has “leveraged his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency,” the report said.
‘Beyond Miserable’ – Israel Blocks UN Attempts to Deliver Aid to Northern Gaza
AP quoted Kenneth Roth, a former executive director of Human Rights Watch, as saying “The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations.”
He pointed out that “It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations — the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy — to interfere.”
Only 12 Trucks Allowed In
According to Oxfam, just 12 trucks were allowed to deliver food and water to northern Gaza since the start of October.
“Of the meagre 34 trucks of food and water given permission to enter the North Gaza Governorate over the last 2.5 months, deliberate delays and systematic obstructions by the Israeli military meant that just twelve managed to distribute aid to starving Palestinian civilians,” said Oxfam in a statement.
🚨 Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East Director: “The situation in Gaza is apocalyptic… It’s abhorrent that despite international law being so publicly violated by Israel… world leaders continue to do nothing”.
Read full press release: https://t.co/Hjmp3O7maS pic.twitter.com/X24daV9IKf
— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) December 23, 2024
“It is abhorrent that despite international law being so publicly violated by Israel and starvation being used relentlessly as a weapon of war, world leaders continue to do nothing,” said Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
Oxfam noted that last month the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that there is a strong likelihood that famine is already occurring in the north and the risk of famine persists across the whole of Gaza.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
