Thank you for asking for the source of the phrase “over 60,000 humans killed from forced starvation” in my My Turn titled “We condemned Russian and Hamas atrocities, but what about Israel’s?” that appeared in the Monitor (11/29). The source is a report by Brown University’s Costs of War project titled “The Human Toll: Indirect Deaths from War in Gaza and the West Bank, October 7, 2023, Forward.”

Death by starvation is calculated based on the number of people in Gaza facing food emergencies at levels of IPC Phase 4, which indicates a humanitarian emergency with 1 to 2 adults or 2 to 3 children dying daily per 10,000 people, and IPC Phase 5, which indicates famine and a humanitarian catastrophe with about 2 or more adults or 4 children dying daily per 10,000 people.

Given the escalating warfare on the people of Gaza, destruction of the civilian infrastructure, mass displacement, and blockade of humanitarian aid trucks, the death toll from starvation will continue to increase each month. At this time, the IPC has warned that the situation is getting worse, and the entire population of Gaza is at risk of full-blown famine (IPC Phase 5) in the coming months.

Exeter