Biden’s top aid official says famine is already underway in Gaza

President Joe Biden’s top aid official said that famine is already underway in northern Gaza, as global aid agencies warn that more than 2 million Palestinians face an urgent hunger crisis amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign.

Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is the first official in the Biden administration to make the declaration.

Her comments came during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, when she was asked whether famine was “plausible or likely” in Gaza.

She pointed to assessments from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, or IPC, which reported imminent risk of famine and “catastrophic” food insecurity.

“Do you think it is plausible or likely that parts of Gaza, and in particular northern Gaza, are already experiencing famine?” asked Democratic US Rep Joaquin Castro.

“Well, the methodology that the IPC used is one that we had our experts scrub, it’s one that’s relied upon in other settings, and that is their assessment, and we believe that assessment is credible,” she added.

“So famine is already occurring there?” Mr Castro asked.

“That is – yes,” she replied.

Asked about Ms Power’s comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the IPC report “indicates that famine is imminent in Gaza.”

“We are certainly deeply concerned about these reports, and so we’ve been working around the clock to get more of that aid into Gaza,” she said.

She said there has been “some promise” of increased aid into Gaza following the president’s calls for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, measurable steps to address humanitarian suffering.”

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