WFP-Food Security Update – For Internally Displaced Populations in Southern Gaza Strip

December 14, 2023

In the span of just two months, more than 85 percent of the population in Gaza have been displaced. This update analyzes the food security situation of Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) in the southern governorates in Gaza 12 days after the end of the humanitarian pause on December 1st, compared to similar assessment that was made during the pause.

Highlights

In a matter of 12 days only:

An 18-point increase in the share of households who experienced severe levels of hunger, rising from 38% to 56%.

Nearly all IDP households reported inadequate food consumption, rising from 83% to 93%, and a 27-point increase in share of households with poor consumption rising from 39% to 66%.

Almost half of the IDPs are aware of individuals resorting to consuming wild or raw food due to hunger. This marks a seven percentage-point increase, compared to 42 percent during the pause period.

Nearly all IDP households are reporting using extreme levels of consumption based coping strategies to deal with food shortage, rising from 82% to 96%.

There has been an 8-point increase in households reporting having no access to any type of cooking fuel (7% to 15%). And approximately, 13% of IDPs are burning solid waste as their primary source of cooking fuel.

Access to water remains severely constrained, with less than 2 liters per person per day, falling short by 15 liters of the basic survival-level water requirement as per the Sphere Standards.

With this significant deterioration of IDPs food security situation in the southern governorates compared to the pause period, households in northern governorates are now expected to face a catastrophic situation, having already experienced worse conditions during the pause period.