JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Many, many bad things must happen before a hunger crisis is officially called a famine. People are already dying of starvation, malnutrition and related diseases by the time a formal declaration is made. So we note that today, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the U.N.-backed initiative that monitors global hunger, said the, quote, "worst-case scenario of famine" is playing out now in the Gaza Strip. Israel has controlled the flow of all relief into Gaza as it maintains its war on Hamas. Aid organizations like the International Rescue Committee say they have tons of supplies for Gaza but are not able to deliver it. David Miliband is the president and CEO of the IRC. He joins us now. Welcome.
DAVID MILIBAND: Good afternoon.
SUMMERS: Can you just start by painting us a picture of what it looks like right now as your group is trying to get aid into Gaza?
MILIBAND: There's an absolute hellscape in Gaza today - 2 million citizens there, as well as the 50 hostages - 20 of them alive, we think. We have about 55 to 60 staff members there. They are not just trying to deliver water and sanitation, nutrition, health supplies, care for children. They have become clients themselves of aid agencies because their own children are becoming malnourished. That's why I call it a hellscape. And the amount of aid that we have on the other side of the Gaza-Israel border is the indictment of the current situation. Because although there are many crises around the world, in Sudan and elsewhere, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has a very clear cause and a very simple remedy - to allow the truckloads of nutrition, of food, of medical supplies across the border after they've been screened, to make sure that they're going to reach people...
SUMMERS: Right.
MILIBAND: ...In desperate need.
SUMMERS: The Israeli military maintains that there is no starvation in Gaza. They say this is Hamas propaganda. It also says that there is plenty of aid inside Israel that the U.N. and other aid organizations haven't delivered. Can you just tell us a bit about what your interactions are like with Israeli officials?
MILIBAND: Well, on the statistics, we know that the people of Gaza need 60,000 tons of food every month to survive. There was zero - literally zero in March and April, 20,000 tons in May, 37,000 tons in June. Those are the official statistics. And obviously, we make representations about the way in which we deliver aid, about the fact that our aid reaches those who need it. It's not diverted. And we are also pressing very, very strongly that our supplies that are on the other side of the border be allowed in. But of course, we're only a small part of a...
SUMMERS: Right.
MILIBAND: ...Much wider catastrophe here. Because as you said in your introduction, the declaration of famine by this extremely technical, technocratic body is not hyperbole. It's a lagging indicator. We know from the Somalia crisis of 2011 that 250,000 people died before the famine was declared. People are dying today.
SUMMERS: Right.
MILIBAND: And I can tell you that from the testimony of our own staff, but also from the very clear reports that have come from very respected agencies.
SUMMERS: Well...
MILIBAND: This is a man-made catastrophe that has a very straightforward answer on the humanitarian side. Of course, the war and the politics is very complicated, and that's a vital part of this equation. Because we know during the ceasefire of January and February...
SUMMERS: Well...
MILIBAND: ...We were able to deliver aid.
SUMMERS: Right. I want...
MILIBAND: We were able to...
SUMMERS: I want jump in here though.
MILIBAND: ...Make up some of the ground.
SUMMERS: Let me jump in here and ask you about the politics, though, the political challenge here. I know that you were previously the foreign secretary of the U.K. And today, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire. How did you respond to that news?
MILIBAND: Well, let's just be absolutely clear. There has been no Middle East peace process, really, since I was in office in 2009 and '10, not because I was leading it. It was being led by Prime Minister Olmert in Israel at the time. Under the Obama administration, John Kerry tried, but there is no Middle East peace process at the moment. And I think that's the context to understand the growing desperation in large parts of Europe that's leading to these recognition of the Palestinian state.
But I'm leading a humanitarian agency. I can tell you that 2 million people are on the line. Their lives, and especially the lives of their children who are suffering from acute, severe, acute malnutrition, needs to be addressed today. So that's not politics. That's humanitarian.
SUMMERS: So then what...
MILIBAND: And it's never wrong to feed people. That's the clear thing. Let's be clear. Feeding people doesn't fuel terrorism. Politics fuels terrorism.
SUMMERS: Let me ask you this. What do you think it will take to actually see a sustained difference in the conditions there in Gaza? What needs to happen?
MILIBAND: Well, the aid has to flow. It's very simple. We saw how to make a sustained difference in January, February and March during a ceasefire. I'm afraid the Israeli government unilaterally ended the ceasefire in March. And since then, we've seen the situation get worse and worse and worse. And we've been telling people that if you deny people aid, if you cut off all commercial flows as well as humanitarian flows, you will not - you'll have a very clear consequence - people starve. And that's what's happening today. And we've got to turn the switch from off to on, so that the borders are open, the screening takes place, the aid flows, the commercial traffic flows, too, and we pull people back from the precipice of absolute disaster.
SUMMERS: We have about 30 seconds left here, so I'd like to ask you about a statement that you released today. You wrote that in the coming days, thousands of Gaza's children will either be rescued or allowed to die. You write that that is the choice before us. In the final 30 seconds we've got, who are you speaking to? Who is responsible for making that choice?
MILIBAND: I'm speaking to anyone with power and influence over the situation on the ground. We're getting coverage now of the Gaza crisis that wasn't being - taking place before. But obviously, the first responsibility now is on the Israeli government to open the borders after screening of trucks, etc., to allow the aid in to get the commercial traffic going. And to the extent that President Trump is now engaged...
SUMMERS: OK.
MILIBAND: ...He said yesterday that he'd seen the starvation. It's time for action.
SUMMERS: We'll have to leave it there. That's David Miliband. He's president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. Thank you.
MILIBAND: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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