A United Nations-backed global hunger monitor has determined that famine is now occurring in Gaza City and its surrounding area.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) had previously warned that Gaza was on the verge of famine, but now says for the first time that the events of the past few months – including a new Israeli offensive, increased displacement and weeks of total Israeli blockade of the territory – have made famine a reality in Gaza.
The IPC experts warn that famine will spread to other areas of Gaza if nothing is done to stop Israel’s war and ramp up humanitarian aid. Let’s take a closer look.
What were the main findings of the report?
The main finding is that famine is no longer a threat to Gaza – it is now a reality. The IPC says that more than 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip now face “catastrophic conditions”, the highest level in its food insecurity classification, “characterised by starvation, destitution and death”.
In the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, the IPC found that 30 percent of the population is facing catastrophic conditions, with 50 percent facing an “emergency”, the level below. Conditions in North Gaza governorate are believed to be “as severe – or worse – than in Gaza Governorate”, but the IPC is unable to classify the area because of limited data.
The IPC also projects that famine will also be present in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September. The IPC already determines that 25 and 20 percent of the population in those governorates respectively, are already classified as being in a level 5 catastrophe.
It also projects that 132,000 children between five and six years of age will suffer from acute malnutrition before June of next year, as well as 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 25,000 infants needing urgent nutrition support.
Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, was not analysed by the IPC because it has been largely depopulated of Palestinians as a result of Israeli military operations.
How did the IPC conclude that a famine has begun in Gaza?
The IPC has a five-stage food insecurity classification, with “catastrophe” the worst. A catastrophe is classified as when “households experience an extreme lack of food and/or cannot meet other basic needs even after full employment of coping strategies”.
In a level 5 catastrophe, “starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition are evident”.
However, a famine classification is separate from this. For a “famine with reasonable evidence” to be declared, as it now has in Gaza, there must be clear evidence that two of three thresholds for acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition and mortality have been reached. The thresholds are that at least 20 percent of households “have an extreme lack of food and face starvation and destitution”, that acute malnutrition in children under five affects 30 percent or more, and that there are at least two deaths per 10,000 per day as a result of food insecurity.
What does the IPC say has caused the famine in Gaza?
The IPC blames four factors it says are “man-made”: conflict, displacement, restricted access, and food system collapse.
Israel’s war in Gaza has already killed more than 62,000 Palestinians in the 22 months since it began. The IPC points out that fatalities and injuries rose dramatically in July, with an average of 119 deaths a day, nearly double the average of the previous month.
Israel’s continued offensives have led to many rounds of displacement for Gaza’s population – with the IPC reporting that 1.9 million people have been displaced more than once since the start of the war. The constant moving and lack of safe accommodation have contributed to the deterioration of Gaza’s food security situation, along with the destruction or inaccessibility of 98 percent of Gaza’s cropland and a ban on fishing activity.
To make matters worse, Israel imposed a total blockade on supplies of food and other goods, including water, medicine and fuel, to Gaza in mid-March. It has since lifted the total blockade, but severe restrictions on imports remain.
Why is the IPC determination so important?
The IPC is recognised as the main tool the international community and the UN use to determine food insecurity levels around the world.
The data the IPC provides is vital in heading off future food crises and preventing famine. It can also rally the international community to act early enough to stop famine from taking place, or end a famine once it has started.
The process of classifying a famine is complicated and there are multiple stages, with input from a wide array of bodies and groups, before it goes to a Famine Review Committee made up of “leading independent international food security, nutrition and mortality experts”. In the IPC’s words, this committee must “conduct a review to ensure technical rigour and neutrality of the analysis before the results are confirmed and communicated”.
The IPC has previously classified famines in Somalia in 2011, in South Sudan in both 2017 and 2020, and in Sudan in 2024.
What has the reaction been?
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the famine a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself”.
Guterres said Israel had “unequivocal obligations” under international law to ensure that food and medical supplies entered Gaza, as it is the occupying power.
“Famine is not only about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival,” Guterres said. “People are starving. Children are dying. And those with the duty to act are failing.”
Humanitarian organisations are demanding action.
“Today’s findings must be a wake-up call for the international community,” said David Miliband, the president of the International Rescue Committee. “Without immediate, unhindered humanitarian access and a ceasefire, more lives will be lost to starvation and disease.”
For its part, Israel has rejected the findings, saying there was no famine in Gaza, despite the evidence from the IPC.
“Over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war, and in recent weeks a massive influx of aid has flooded the Strip with staple foods and caused a sharp decline in food prices, which have plummeted in the markets,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
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