The Gaza Strip’s largest city, Gaza City, is officially in famine, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading authority on food crises.
The IPC report released Friday said famine has been confirmed in Gaza City and warned that the crisis could spread to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah without a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid.
“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death,” the IPC stated, noting that 1.07 million more residents remain at risk of starvation in the densely populated territory.
The IPC projected that conditions will deteriorate further between mid-August and late September 2025. Nearly 641,000 people almost one-third of Gaza’s population are expected to face catastrophic famine conditions (IPC Phase 5), while 1.14 million will be in an emergency state (IPC Phase 4).
At least 132,000 children under five are expected to suffer acute malnutrition in the coming year, including over 41,000 severe cases at heightened risk of death.
Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, directly blamed Israel for the crisis.
“It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed,” Fletcher said in Geneva. “Food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. This famine will and must haunt us all.”
Israel strongly denied the IPC findings. The Foreign Ministry dismissed the report as “based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests.”
“There is no famine in Gaza,” the ministry said, insisting that over 100,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the war began, causing food prices to fall. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the IPC declaration “an outright lie,” arguing that Israel’s policy is to “prevent starvation, not cause it.”
While aid deliveries have increased under international pressure, humanitarian groups say the supplies remain grossly inadequate. A U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid distribution system has also come under heavy criticism after several civilians were killed near distribution hubs in Gaza.
What a Famine Classification Means
The IPC only confirms famine when strict thresholds are met:
- 20% of households face extreme food shortages
- At least 30% of children under five suffer acute malnutrition
- At least two people (or four children under five) per 10,000 die daily from hunger or related disease
This is the first famine officially declared in the Middle East, adding Gaza to a short list of regions including Somalia (2011), South Sudan (2017, 2020), and Sudan’s Darfur (2024).
