NEARLY 282 million people in 59 countries suffered acute hunger last year, with war-torn Gaza worst hit, according to the annual Global Report on Food Crises.

The Food Security Information Network’s report, published on Wednesday, said that an acute lack of food was experienced by 24 million more people than in 2022, due to a sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza Strip and Sudan, another scene of armed conflict.

Food and Agriculture Organisation chief economist Maximo Torero said that 705,000 people in five countries are at Phase 5, the top level, on a scale of hunger determined by international experts — the highest number since the global report began in 2016 and quadruple the number that year.