Gaza at 'high risk' of famine, conflict spread could be 'apocalyptic'

The entire Gaza Strip is at "high risk" of famine, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned, while the UN humanitarian chief cautioned that a spread of the Israel-Palestine conflict to Lebanon would be "potentially apocalyptic."

The famine alarm was raised as a new report has shown that almost the entire population is facing "acute food insecurity, with 1 in 5 Gazans being on the verge of famine," said FAO.

Around 459,000 people in Gaza (22 percent) are in a state of "catastrophic food insecurity," while almost the entire population (96 percent) is facing "crisis levels of acute food insecurity or higher," according to a paper published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Global Initiative.

Commenting on the latest findings at a press conference in New York on Wednesday, FAO chief economist Maximo Torero said the agency had observed a high risk of famine over the last eight months. "The relentless hostilities as well as limited access to those in need of urgent humanitarian aid have had severe impacts on the entire population in Gaza," he said.

"With some 96 percent of the population facing acute food insecurity, any deterioration may push more people into catastrophic levels of hunger," the FAO chief economist stressed. "(This would happen) For example, if the level of permits and access of humanitarian trucks to Gaza declines and does not increase substantially."

On the same day, UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths said that he saw Lebanon as "the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints," pointing to southern Lebanon in particular.

"We are worried about the potential for further tragedy and deaths," he said. "It's potentially apocalyptic."

Recently, both the U.S. and Israel have warned of the risk of a major conflict against Hezbollah, following an escalation in cross-border fire.

Israel's military said last week that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated," prompting fresh threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Griffiths warned that a conflict involving Lebanon "will draw in Syria, (and) it will draw in others."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and other aid agencies were preparing for a broader crisis, Griffiths said, adding, "The problem is stopping this war from getting worse."

However, Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon continue. At least five Lebanese civilians were injured late Wednesday night in Israeli airstrikes that destroyed a residential building in the Al-Mashaa neighborhood of Nabatieh, a city in southern Lebanon, according to medical and military sources speaking anonymously to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Wednesday that its fighters launched a drone attack in the morning on a "vital site" in Israel's southern port city of Eilat.

The militia claimed the attack was carried out "in solidarity with the people of Gaza," pledging more targeting of "the enemy's strongholds."

Besides, Yemen's Houthi group said on Wednesday they launched a joint drone attack with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq on an Israeli ship docked in the Israeli port of Haifa.

"We will continue these joint military operations with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance in support of the Palestinian people," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said, linking the attack to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He demanded an end to "Israeli aggression" and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

(With input from agencies)