Famine confirmed in Gaza City and set to spread, says UN-backed report

The Gaza Strip's largest city is suffering from famine, the world's leading authority on food crises determined on Friday, stating that it would likely spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system, or IPC, said 514,000 people – nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine and that was due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September, warning it would soon hit Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in the south. 

The IPC determination comes after months of warnings by aid groups that Israel's restrictions of food and other aid into Gaza, and its military offensive, were causing high levels of starvation among Palestinian civilians, particularly children. 

Israel has rejected the report, saying there is no famine in Gaza and that the findings were based on "Hamas lies".

The grim milestone – the first time the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East – is likely to ramp up international pressure on Israel, which has been in a brutal war with Hamas since the militant group's October 7, 2023, attack. Israel says it plans to soon escalate the war by seizing Gaza City and other Hamas strongholds, which experts say will exacerbate the hunger crisis.

Life-threatening

The IPC said hunger has been driven by fighting and the blockade of aid, and magnified by widespread displacement and the collapse of food production in Gaza, pushing hunger to life-threatening levels across the entire territory after 22 months of war.

More than half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of the population, face catastrophic levels of hunger, and many are at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, the IPC report said. Last month, the IPC said the "worst-case scenario of famine" was unfolding in Gaza, but stopped short of an official determination.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied there is hunger in Gaza, calling reports of starvation "lies" promoted by Hamas. After the publication of images of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of hunger-related deaths, Israel announced measures to let more humanitarian aid in. Yet the UN and Palestinians in Gaza say what's entering is far below what's needed.

The Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to the territory rejected the report on Friday, calling it "false and biased."

The agency, known as COGAT, said there was no famine in Gaza and said that significant steps had been taken to expand the amount of aid entering the strip in recent weeks.

Israel's foreign ministry added: "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."

UN accuses Israel

The UN aid chief said the famine was preventable, blaming the "systematic obstruction" of aid by Israel and demanding Netanyahu let supplies in on a massive scale.

"It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed, yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel," UN Emergency Coordinator Tom Fletcher said. "Let us get food and other supplies in unimpeded and at the massive scale required. End the retribution."

Netanyahu says more military pressure is needed to achieve Israel's goals of freeing the hostages held by Hamas and eliminating the militant group altogether.

The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid into Gaza and distributing it throughout the war zone, blaming impediments on Israel and lawlessness. Israel has been critical of the UN-led operation and accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the militants deny.

How is famine determined?

Formal famine determinations are rare. The IPC has previously determined famines in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of Sudan's western Darfur region last year.

The IPC says a famine exists in an area when all three of the following conditions are confirmed:

• At least 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving. 

• At least 30 percent of children six months to 5 years old suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they're too thin for their height. 

• At least two people per 10,000 – and four in 10,000 children under 5 – are dying daily due to starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.

Starvation used as warfare, says UN

Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, to pressure Hamas to free hostages.

Israel eased those restrictions in May and says there's currently no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza. But it also pushed ahead with a new U.S.-backed aid delivery system that requires Palestinians to travel long distances and pass through Israeli military lines to get aid.

The traditional, UN-led aid providers say deliveries have been hampered by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of looting, while criminals and hungry crowds overwhelm entering convoys.

Witnesses, health officials and the U.N. rights office say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid from both providers, while Israel says it has only fired warning shots and that the toll is exaggerated.

The UN human rights chief said the Israeli government was responsible forthe emergence of famine in northern Gaza.

Volker Turk said: "The famine declared in Gaza Governorate by the IPC is the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government. It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of willful killing."