'Worst-case scenario of famine' unfolds in Gaza as death toll hits 60,000

Gaza passed two grim landmarks yesterday as UN-backed hunger experts warned a "worst-case scenario of famine" was unfolding in the territory and called for "immediate action" shortly before health officials announced the death toll from Israeli attacks had passed 60,000.

- Emma Graham-Harrison Jerusalem Malak A Tantesh Gaza

With more than 145,000 others injured, nearly one in 10 Palestinians who lived in Gaza two years ago has become a casualty of the war. The majority of those killed have been civilians, including over 18,000 children.

"The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in an alert that called for an urgent ceasefire to alleviate "widespread starvation".

Survivors face a famine caused by Israel blocking food aid and "relentless conflict", the report said.

"Immediate action must be taken to end the hostilities and allow for unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response."

Malnutrition has killed 79 people in Gaza over the last week, more than in the previous 21 months of conflict, according to health authorities. That is likely to be a conservative estimate of the real toll, experts in food security and doctors in Gaza say.

The famine is the most severe hunger crisis the world has faced for decades, the World Food Programme (WFP) emergency director, Ross Smith, said. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century," he said after the IPC alert was published. "It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra."