‘Huge risk of hunger’ UN expert raises fears of starvation in Lebanon

Hunger and malnutrition rates could rise “exponentially” in Lebanon if Israel follows through with threats to escalate the current military operation, which has so far killed more than 2,000 and displaced as many as a million people, according to a leading UN expert.

- Nina Lakhani

“Israel has the ability to starve Lebanon - like it has starved Palestinians in Gaza,” said Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food. “If you look at the geography of Lebanon, Israel has the power to absolutely put a stranglehold on the food system. There is a huge risk of hunger and malnutrition rates skyrocketing very quickly in Lebanon.”

Acute hunger rates could rise very quickly because food security in Lebanon was precarious even before Israel launched its full-scale aerial bombardment in mid-September. This was because hostilities with Hezbollah since 7 October had already displaced 40% of local farmers, disrupting production and interrupting trade and access to markets, according to the UN World Food Programme.

Access to adequate food is becoming increasingly challenging, as entire communities have been forced to abandon their homes and farmland in southern Lebanon and as civilian areas in Beirut come under heavy aerial attack.

In June, the UN added Lebanon to its list of hunger hotspots, warning that a quarter of the population faced acute levels of food insecurity amid the simmering conflict, soaring inflation, rising global wheat prices, and diminishing humanitarian aid for the country's 1.5 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees.

On Friday, Fakhri will face questions at the UN general assembly over the findings of his latest report, which argues that starvation campaigns are always deliberate and that the state of Israel should be held criminally accountable for the mass starvation of Palestinians.

“Famines are human-made and are always the result of one group starving another, therefore should always be understood as a political problem,” said Fakhri.