Famine is "quite possibly" in some areas of northern Gaza, US official says

PHOTO CAPTION: Palestinian woman Nozha Awad flees Al Shifa hospital following an Israeli raid with her triplet children, moving southward in the central Gaza Strip, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Famine is both a risk and "quite possibly" present in at least some areas in northern Gaza, a senior State Department official told Reuters on Friday, while adding that the scarcity of trucks was a key obstacle for more humanitarian aid in the densely populated enclave that has been under Israel siege.

"While we can say with confidence, that famine is a significant risk in the south and center but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas, which accounts for the urgency with which we need to move goods, food at scale into the north," the senior State Department official, speaking with Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said.



(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)