The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said 514,000 people—nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population—are experiencing famine, a figure it projects will rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
About 280,000 people in the northern Gaza governorate that includes Gaza City are already in famine after nearly two years of war between Israel and Hamas, it said, adding that conditions are likely to extend to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by late next month.
The IPC said limited data prevented a precise classification for areas further north and noted its analysis on Friday covered Gaza, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
It excluded any remaining population in largely uninhabited Rafah and could not classify North Gaza due to access restrictions.
Israel dismissed the findings as false and biased, saying they relied on partial data largely provided by Hamas and did not account for a recent influx of food.
“There is no famine in Gaza,” the foreign ministry said.
COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid flows, said the IPC ignored Israeli delivery data and was serving “Hamas’ propaganda campaign.”
Under IPC criteria, a famine classification requires at least 20% of people facing extreme food shortages, one in three children acutely malnourished, and two of every 10,000 people dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
The IPC says it does not declare famine but provides analysis for governments and others to do so.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called Gaza’s famine “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself,” urging an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas and unfettered humanitarian access.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said the famine was a direct result of Israeli government actions and warned deaths from starvation could constitute a war crime.
Israel controls all access to Gaza.
The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to bringing in and distributing aid amid the fighting and lawlessness, blaming impediments on Israel.
Israel has criticized the U.N.-led operation and accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the militant group denies.
It is the first time the IPC has recorded a famine outside Africa and the fifth time in 14 years that famine has been determined under its framework, after assessments in parts of Somalia (2011), South Sudan (2017 and 2020) and Sudan (2024).
(jh)
Source: Reuters, Euronews, BBC, The Guardian