00:00Well, let's speak now to Tess Ingram from UNICEF, who joins us now from Gaza.
00:04Thank you very much indeed, Tess. Welcome back to the program.
00:08What does this IPC classification actually mean for the starving civilians there in Gaza?
00:14Will it help at all?
00:17We have to hope that a report of this credibility and of this shocking nature
00:22will do something to spark the international community into action.
00:26I think up until now we have not seen the pressure that has been needed
00:31to influence a considerable change here in the Gaza Strip.
00:35We've seen a very minor increase in the volume of trucks coming in in recent weeks,
00:39but it has not been enough to make a difference for those families
00:43who are struggling on the ground to survive, many of whom I've met in recent days
00:47and who are just despairing at the lack of options that they have to save their children.
00:52And UN agencies calling this a man-made disaster.
00:56What responsibility now does the international community bear for dealing with this
01:02and for having allowed it to reach this stage in the first place?
01:05It is a shame on the international community.
01:10This occurred on our watch, despite many warnings, despite considerable evidence.
01:16We have both data and, you know, this famine as it has been unfolding
01:21has been live-streamed into people's living rooms around the world.
01:24There are no excuses.
01:26This is something that was preventable, but we failed.
01:28And in doing so, we have failed Gaza's children.
01:32Already, more than 110 children have been killed by hunger-related causes,
01:36and that number will continue to rise for as long as we fail to address the situation.
01:42And so what are aid agencies able to actually do now?
01:45What is the main obstacle preventing them from delivering the food, the water,
01:49the medical supplies that you say are so desperately needed?
01:52You say that the number of trucks has increased slightly, but it's clearly nowhere near enough.
01:58UNICEF is still here on the ground alongside other UN agencies and humanitarian partners
02:04doing everything we can.
02:06And it was good to see when I was at these treatment points the other day
02:10that we do have some treatment supplies that we're providing to these malnourished children
02:15and pregnant women, but they are in short supply,
02:17and we need to get much more in quickly and at scale.
02:21The key barrier that we face at the moment is we're operating through just two crossings.
02:25We need all of the crossings into the Gaza Strip to open to trucks to allow us to bring in aid at scale,
02:31and then we need better operating conditions on the ground.
02:35One of the hurdles that we face is our ability to go and collect aid from the crossings.
02:40They're not a drive-through.
02:41We can't just go whenever we want.
02:43We have to seek permission from the Israeli authorities to access those crossings,
02:47to collect the aid, and then take the aid to the families that need it.
02:50And often those trips, which are just a few kilometres, can take up to 20 hours
02:55because of impediments and delays that are put in front of us.
02:59So we need better operating conditions on the ground to make a difference,
03:02and that has to happen soon because the more that our efforts are thwarted,
03:06the more we will see children suffer.
03:08And if that happens soon, and I know it's a big if,
03:11if aid access does now improve at scale,
03:14how long would it likely take to start to reverse famine conditions?
03:19It's going to take time because this is an entrenched deprivation
03:25in almost two years of a conflict where aid has been insufficient
03:29for almost the entire period other than the ceasefire that we had earlier this year
03:33where we managed to get in 600 trucks a day.
03:37So we've proved that it's possible,
03:39that it's possible to facilitate that volume of aid.
03:41We just need those crossings to open,
03:43and we just need the conditions on the ground.
03:46The UN knows how to do this work.
03:47We must be allowed to do our job because children's lives are at stake.
03:52Many humanitarian organisations are calling for an immediate ceasefire, of course.
03:57How essential is that to averting further famine deaths,
04:00and are people still being targeted at these aid points?
04:06A ceasefire is the best way for us,
04:08one, to ensure that our operations can be enabled,
04:11and two, to protect children from being killed and injured.
04:14The bombardments continue here in the Gaza Strip,
04:17killing and injuring children every day.
04:19And as you said, children have been killed and injured while seeking access to aid,
04:24including a few weeks ago at a UNICEF-supported nutrition site
04:27where children were waiting for supplies.
04:30Nine children were killed,
04:32and that has to be completely unacceptable to the world.
04:35So, as is a possible offensive in Gaza City,
04:40in a place where, of course, we know that famine has now been classified,
04:45that has the highest levels of malnutrition among children in the Gaza Strip.
04:49So, a ceasefire is more important in this moment than it has been in the entire conflict.
04:54And the UN is warning of famine in the south of Gaza by next month.
05:00What's the window of opportunity to prevent that from happening?
05:05We need concerted action now, as quickly as we possibly can.
05:09I think that threat is very real.
05:11As I said, I've spent the last two days in that middle area in Deir al-Bala
05:14at nutrition treatment centres.
05:16I met with children who are severely acutely malnourished in Deir al-Bala,
05:20and including one girl, Noor, who was a healthy baby when she was born,
05:25four kilos, but now at 14 months old, she is only five kilograms,
05:30and she is hanging on to life.
05:32Her mother was in tears, worried that she was going to die.
05:36The mother is malnourished, and so is her brother.
05:38The entire family is really struggling to find food,
05:41and that's just one of so many cases here in Gaza at the moment.
05:46Tess, we're really grateful for you sparing the time to speak with us today.
05:49Thank you very much indeed.
05:50Tess Ingram from UNICEF.
