United Nations officially declares famine in Gaza

The IPC, an international body established in 2004 to assess the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, had previously declared famine only four times worldwide, most recently in Sudan last year.

Although the organization had previously warned of an imminent famine in parts of Gaza, it had refrained from an official declaration due to a lack of precise data. On Friday, however, famine was officially declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas, including three towns and several refugee camps, affecting approximately 500,000 people.

According to IPC criteria, three strict conditions must be met for an official famine declaration: at least 20% of households must face severe food shortages, at least 30% of children must suffer from acute malnutrition, and at least two people per 10,000 must die from hunger each day.

The Telegraph reported that a confidential IPC partner report states: “After 22 months of relentless war, over half a million people in Gaza face catastrophic conditions including starvation, extreme poverty, and death.” It also warned that famine is expected to spread to the Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September.

The report further indicates that 1,070,000 additional people—over half of Gaza’s population—are in the “food emergency” phase (Phase 2 of the crisis). This is the first time famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East; previously, such declarations had occurred only four times in sub-Saharan Africa.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that 271 people, including 112 children, have already died from hunger, with over half of these deaths occurring in the past three weeks. The total death toll from the 22-month war has now exceeded 62,192.

This official declaration has sparked anger from the Israeli cabinet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again denied the existence of famine on Thursday, claiming: “If our policy was to starve people, no one in Gaza would have survived two years of war.” He even bizarrely asserted that “the only people being deliberately starved in Gaza are Israeli hostages.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli army has begun preparations for a large-scale assault on Gaza City. Netanyahu announced that he will soon issue the final order to occupy the city. In recent days, intense Israeli bombardment has enabled the establishment of bases on the city’s outskirts, forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee.