Gaza's food system has fallen apart, with almost all of its agricultural land either inaccessible or destroyed by Israeli bombardment, the US-based NGO Mercy Corps said.
“The scale of destruction is unlike anything we’ve seen in previous conflicts. This level of destruction goes beyond a crisis. It represents the collapse of a food system and the erosion of people’s ability to sustain themselves," Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, Kate Phillips-Barrasso, said in a statement.
Last month, the group published an article about the state of Gaza's farmland that showed 96 per cent of it was either destroyed or out of reach. This includes infrastructure such as greenhouses, wells and irrigation systems.
Weapons used in the two-year war have contaminated soil with heavy metals and explosive remnants, leaving local food production at a "standstill", the report said.
This also contributed to the famine that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed in Gaza city last year. The IPC said that 90 per cent of children under two years old were "consuming no more than two food groups per day", while 41,000 children were at risk of death due to malnutrition.
The Mercy Corps report said the situation is not a temporary disruption but a "systemic breakdown". Even after the October ceasefire, despite some improvement in circumstances, Gaza's population of 2.1 million remains heavily reliant on food assistance coming from abroad, with rampant acute food insecurity.
Ms Phillips-Barrasso said reversing the damage requires a concerted effort.
“Recovery is technically possible, but it is neither quick nor guaranteed. It requires safe access to land, large-scale decontamination, and the consistent entry of essential materials to rebuild water, energy, and agricultural systems."
