In brief
Rida Hijjeh shares her heart-wrenching experience of watching her daughter, Lamia, suffer from severe malnutrition as famine grips Gaza City. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has recently confirmed famine conditions and projected further expansion of food insecurity in the region. Despite denials from Israeli officials, the humanitarian crisis worsens as families like the Hijjehs continue to endure unimaginable struggles for survival.
A mother has told the BBC her five-year-old daughter has lost almost half of her body weight due to the famine in Gaza City. Lamia Hijjeh, whose family has been displaced several times during the war, has lost 8.5kg and cannot walk, according to her mother Rida.On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised its classification to Phase 5, the highest and worst level of its acute food insecurity scale. It states that famine is confirmed in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surrounding area, with catastrophic conditions projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.Israel has denied there was starvation in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the IPC report as an outright lie.
