Famine Vulnerable children and elderly people are most at risk

Humanitarian experts and doctors are warning that children, elderly people, and those with pre-existing health conditions are most at risk from the famine in Gaza.

- Peter Beaumont

Pro-Israeli activists and the country's foreign ministry have tried to challenge the veracity of shocking pictures that have appeared in the international media, despite widespread and well-documented evidence of growing and worsening famine conditions. One such picture, used widely by the international media including the Guardian, showed a young boy suffering from severe malnutrition, who it subsequently transpired also had a pre-existing health condition.

Experts say that children under the age of five, including those with other health issues, and the elderly, will always be most vulnerable in the circumstances of famine.

Aid agencies, governments and the UN's food security monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative (IPC), have provided evidence of increasing starvation in particular among children under five.

Estimates from other recent famines have suggested that the risk of dying for children under five can be twice as high as it is for adults, with a still greater risk for children with health issues.

According to the health ministry in Gaza, 154 people have died from hunger since the start of the war, 89 of whom were children.