Tag: IPC

Gaza, humanitarian aid obstructed – Exclusive interview with Xavier Lauth, Director of Operations at Solidarités International

Bombing in Gaza © UNRWA Ashraf Amra

Alain Boinet: Xavier, you were recently in Gaza, what humanitarian situation did you witness on the ground?

Xavier Lauth: I was in Gaza at the beginning of July 2025, I found a humanitarian situation absolutely exceptional in its scale, a terrible situation, difficult to put into words and figures for a humanitarian. A shocking situation, hardly comparable. People have been displaced not once but sometimes three, four or five times since 2023. These women and men live with the constant fear of being killed in a bombing, they have not been able to offer their children access to a single safe place for two years. Two years of fear that generates a palpable psychological distress.

An exceptional humanitarian situation also due to the famine and the number of people who are hungry. Exceptional also because the territory left to the Palestinians (territory outside the evacuation order zones) is so narrow that the concentration there is immense and people have a feeling of entrapment. Exceptional also because of the number of civilian deaths, including the sad record of humanitarians killed and the level of destruction. Exceptional due to the famine.

Un enfant de sept ans souffrant de malnutrition aiguë sévère et de déshydratation dans le sud de la bande de Gaza en avril.
A seven-year-old child suffering from severe acute malnutrition and dehydration in the south of the Gaza Strip in April. © WHO – A seven-year-old child suffering from severe acute malnutrition and dehydration in the south of the Gaza Strip, April 2025

Alain Boinet: How do people live in Gaza when access to relief is extremely limited?

Xavier Lauth: People do not live in Gaza but survive there. There are almost no schools left for children, no jobs for adults, so people spend their day looking for food and water, seeking medical care, and trying to stay alive. Foodstuffs and all the objects and goods necessary for daily life are rare in Gaza. The drastic entry restrictions imposed by the Israeli army deprive the population of these goods and also prevent finding spare parts to repair or maintain basic services. The Gazans cope by reusing everything possible but the dignity they show cannot diminish the indignity of this situation. Some no longer even have the strength to get up, I met several men, women and elderly people in various places across the Strip, unable to stand because they no longer eat and leave the little food to their children.

Alain Boinet: The work of the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)” is highly controversial, what do humanitarians on the ground think?

Xavier Lauth: Humanitarians in their vast majority consider that the work done by the GHF does not respect the principles that form the basis of our values nor the modus operandi that govern and guide us. The food distribution operations create uncontrolled gatherings of people in a militarized zone. These sites are protected by armed men who shoot at the population as soon as they believe there is a disruption, which inevitably happens, when it is not the crowd movements themselves that cause deaths. I met many people and always heard the same message from the Palestinians: we know it’s dangerous, that it’s not humanitarian aid, but some of us take the risk to go because our families have nothing left to eat. Unfortunately, there are also deaths during looting of humanitarian convoys, but it must be remembered that Israel bears the greatest responsibility, due to the limited quantities allowed in, the control of the truck routes, and the disappearance of civil order caused by the conflict.

©Solidarités International – Water distribution by Solidarités International

©Solidarités International – Water distribution by Solidarités International

Alain Boinet: What exactly is Solidarités International doing in Gaza, with what team and what means of action?

Xavier Lauth: Solidarités International supports and operates desalination stations (owned, with a partner and with private suppliers) which produce drinking water. SI then organizes the distribution of this drinking water by truck throughout the Gaza Strip (in accessible areas). Tens of thousands of liters of water are thus distributed every day in tent sites or destroyed neighborhoods. In addition to this work on drinking water, teams draw and distribute domestic water from various private wells so that people can use it for other purposes. Another part of the intervention also involves securing full latrines and organizing hygiene awareness sessions with the community to establish barriers to the transmission of waterborne diseases. Finally, our teams were starting small agriculture activities on very limited spaces but with the offensive on Gaza City and the renewed displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, there is no more space. Solidarités International has also distributed hygiene items when available, but it is no longer possible to procure any.

To summarize, we make do with what is available on the ground, we do a lot in terms of water supply and for the rest we adapt, we are far from our standards, there is no safe place for our teams but we continue to deliver aid and that’s what matters.

Alain Boinet: On August 22, the UN declared a famine in Gaza based on a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), what reality did you observe on the ground and what can be done?

Xavier Lauth: I don’t have any statistical data to add, the IPC work is rigorous. On my level, I can only testify. Testify to visible hunger. People too thin lying down and without strength, women crying because they cannot feed their babies, elderly people collapsing from the shame of admitting they are hungry. It is a very harsh situation, especially since the food is only a few kilometers away…

©Solidarités International – Water distribution by Solidarités International

Alain Boinet: What are the consequences of the ongoing Israeli offensive on the city of Gaza and what more can humanitarian organizations do to help the population?

Xavier Lauth: The consequences are terrible because Gaza City was home to a large part of the population who now find themselves on the roads again, having to find new makeshift shelters further south. Having to move again as they did in 2024 is unbearable. The available space is so limited that it is not possible to deploy minimal humanitarian services. Many hospitals are in Gaza City and will no longer be accessible. Humanitarian organizations will adapt again: new locations for water supply points, new sources of supply, support for people’s resettlement… but without materials, with our own teams forced to evacuate… the humanitarian response is not up to the level of the situation.

Alain Boinet: What specifically characterizes for you the situation and humanitarian action in Gaza compared to emergencies like those in Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, Yemen, or elsewhere?

Xavier Lauth: I have described above some of the elements that make this situation exceptional but as for humanitarian action, it is surely its level of obstruction that is most specific. The obstacles are numerous in all the crises you mention and humanitarians are very exposed but collectively we generally manage to overcome them or mitigate the consequences. In Gaza, funding levels are overall good for humanitarian actors who therefore have financial means but they cannot deliver aid at scale due to the obstructions and blockades. Such a level does not seem to have ever been reached before.

Alain Boinet: How would you like to conclude?

Xavier Lauth: This war will mark, beyond any political consideration, a turning point in the history of humanitarian work. We must continue, try everything to bring everything we can to Palestinians in distress, it is a moral duty. But this effort will remain derisory as long as the fighting does not stop.

Xavier Lauth:

 

Xavier Lauth has been Director of Operations at Solidarités International (SI) since June 2023. He has worked in the humanitarian sector since 2010. After holding several field positions, he was head of emergency responses at SI for four years and director of operations at SOS Méditerranée for 18 months before rejoining SI.

 

 

 

To learn more about the situation in Gaza and humanitarian work on the ground:

 

FEWS Net or famine alert!

At the Gharb Al Matta displacement site, in Kassala (Sudan), the World Food Programme is conducting a two-day distribution – February 2025 – Photo: OCHA ©Giles Clarke.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) was created in 1985 by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

It was born in a context marked by severe famines, with a clear objective: to develop tools capable of understanding, analyzing, and anticipating food insecurity phenomena.

Forty years later, FEWS NET has become a pioneering actor and a global reference in the analysis of food crises. Its central role is to provide decision-makers and humanitarian organizations with reliable information, enabling the prevention of famines and the rapid adaptation of responses.

To do this, the network collects and analyzes a wide range of data—climatic, agricultural, economic, and nutritional—which it organizes through a rigorous methodology called scenario development. This forward-looking approach unfolds in eight successive steps :

  1. Define the scenario parameters: specify the period and geographical area studied.
  2. Describe and classify the current food situation: establish a reference diagnosis.
  3. Develop key assumptions: anticipate the evolution of major factors (climate, markets, conflicts, etc.).
  4. Analyze the impact on household income sources.
  5. Analyze the impact on household food sources.
  6. Describe and classify projected food security at the household level.
  7. Describe and classify projected food security at the area level.
  8. Identify events that could alter the scenario (climatic shocks, political instability, epidemics, etc.).

Thanks to this approach, FEWS NET is able to produce reliable estimates up to six months, or even a year in advance, integrating multiple factors: climatic and weather conditions, conflicts, markets, agricultural production, and trade.

These analyses are published in the form of reports, vulnerability maps, and projections, which support policy-makers and help humanitarian actors on the ground implement targeted interventions.

In 2025, the network celebrates its 40th anniversary, confirming its crucial role in the fight against global food insecurity.

GAZA :

The FEWS NET report of August 22, 2025, is an essential tool for assessing the severity of the food crisis in the Gaza Strip and anticipating its evolution. It relies on the international IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) scale, which classifies food insecurity into five phases. Phase 5, corresponding to famine, is characterized by the combination of three indicators: extreme hunger, acute malnutrition, and high mortality. According to the report, this phase is already observed in the Gaza governorate, and probably in North Gaza, where populations have crossed all critical thresholds.

UNICEF ©Mohammed Nateel – A child waits in line to receive water in Gaza.

Situation in North Gaza (~1.06 million people)

In this region, the food crisis is worsened by 22 months of conflict, massive displacements, and the near-total destruction of essential infrastructure. Surveys indicate that 28 to 36% of households are experiencing catastrophic hunger, exceeding the famine threshold. Levels of acute malnutrition among children have crossed the critical 15% threshold, with admissions to treatment centers more than doubling between June and July 2025. Mortality related to hunger and disease is also considered likely to be above the IPC Phase 5 threshold (≥2 deaths per 10,000 people/day). Food aid entry remains extremely limited, bakeries are closed, and community kitchens reach only 10% of the population, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without regular access to food.

Situation in South Gaza (~1.04 million people)

The governorates of Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah are experiencing a situation close to famine, worsened by repeated displacements of over a million people, the collapse of livelihoods, and limited access to food resources. Between May and July 2025, extreme hunger tripled in Deir al-Balah and increased by 50% in Khan Younis, while 22 to 33% of households are in a critical food situation. More than 700 deaths related to food aid were recorded in July, including 390 in the south. Food prices have skyrocketed, with flour costing 200–300 NIS/kg, a 5,000% increase compared to the pre-conflict period. Acute malnutrition among children has doubled since May, reaching up to 12% in some areas. Access to water, sanitation, and healthcare has nearly collapsed, with only six hospitals operational and medical stocks largely depleted. According to projections, mortality related to hunger and disease is expected to cross the IPC Phase 5 threshold by the end of September 2025.

Perspectives :

The FEWS NET report for August confirms that famine is already effective in North Gaza and was imminent in the south. The three criteria of Phase 5—extreme hunger, acute malnutrition, and mortality—are reached or about to be reached in several governorates. Without massive, regular, and secure humanitarian intervention, including food, safe water, and medical care, large-scale human losses are inevitable. The scale of the crisis underscores the urgency of strengthening humanitarian access and coordinating a response to prevent widespread health and food collapse.

©IPC – Projection of the malnutrition situation in the Gaza Strip between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025

News :

Since the publication of the report in August, the situation has taken a new dimension. In September, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, created in 2021 by the Human Rights Council, concluded that a genocide is underway in the Gaza Strip, committed by Israel. According to the Commission, Israel is responsible for four of the five constituent acts of genocide, as defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Among them is the intentional subjection of a group to conditions of existence calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part. The famine, orchestrated by Israeli authorities through the blockade of access to food and nutrition, directly illustrates this category.

Funding :

The return of FEWS NET, the world’s leading early warning system for famine, raises as much hope as questions. Suspended for nearly a year due to USAID budget cuts and the reorientation of American foreign aid priorities, this system left a critical gap in the collection and analysis of food security data, depriving humanitarian actors of an essential tool to anticipate and respond to crises. Its redeployment, alongside the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), should strengthen the detection and forecasting of famine situations in fragile contexts such as Gaza, Sudan, or Haiti.

However, while FEWS NET provides real-time technical expertise and independent projections, its effectiveness remains conditioned on the ability of international aid to be deployed concretely. Yet, in a context of massive cuts to humanitarian funding, both in the United States and globally, the central question remains: even with precise and early diagnosis, will vital resources reach the populations most at risk ?

©PAM – In the western desert town of Dinsoor, drought victims rush to receive food distributed by the United Nations World Food Programme.

Esther de Montchalin

Esther de Montchalin is a master’s student in Political Science, specializing in Development and Humanitarian Action, at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She is currently the assistant to the founder of Solidarités International and Défis Humanitaires, Mr. Alain Boinet.

Particularly interested in global health issues, access to water, and the fight against malnutrition, she dedicates her research to major contemporary humanitarian challenges and the difficulties faced by vulnerable populations in crisis contexts.