Famine has been confirmed in Gaza City for the first time by the UN-backed body responsible for monitoring world hunger.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an internationally recognised system used to classify the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition.
Famine confirmations by the IPC are rare. Friday’s announcement marks just the fifth time it has confirmed a famine is taking place. It has previously done so in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020 and parts of Sudan’s western Darfur region in 2024.
The IPC report states that the famine in Gaza City is “entirely man-made”, adding that it can be “halted and reversed”.
“The time for debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed.”
The IPC added: “After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death.
“Between mid-August and the end of September 2025, conditions are expected to further worsen with Famine projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
“Nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions”.
The UN had previously said Gaza was “on the brink of famine”, while the IPC said collecting robust data in Gaza remained very difficult, as health systems were collapsing.
For a region to be classified as in a famine by the IPC, it must meet these three conditions:
- One in five households has an extreme lack of food
- At least 30% of the population is acutely malnourished
- At least two people – or four children under the age of five – in every 10,000 die from starvation daily
In June, 6,500 children were admitted for treatment for malnutrition, the highest number since the conflict began.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no one was starving in Gaza and that Israel has supplied enough aid during the war.
The IPC’s damning famine report comes as Israel pushes forward with its offensive in Gaza City.
Netanyahu is set to grant final approval at a meeting with senior security officials, and the wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days.
The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after Netanyahu grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials.
Netanyahu has also ordered “immediate” negotiations for the release of all hostages and an end to the war in Gaza “on terms acceptable” to Israel.
This is the first time Netanyahu has publicly addressed the Gaza war ceasefire talks since Hamas responded positively earlier this week to the latest proposal put forth by mediators from Qatar and Egypt.
Israeli officials believe that 50 hostages remain in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are thought to be alive.
The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire.
Israel’s Defence Minister has warned that Gaza City could be destroyed unless Hamas accepts Israel’s demands to disarm and release all hostages.
A day after Netanyahu said he would authorise the military to seize Gaza City, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that the enclave’s largest city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun”. Both cities have been reduced to rubble by Israel during the war.
“The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war”, Katz wrote in a post on X.
Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which, if accepted by Israel, could forestall the offensive.
The planned offensive has sparked international outrage and fuelled fears of another mass displacement among Palestinians.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 62,192 Palestinians have been killed in the war. Another two people have died from malnutrition-related causes, bringing the total number of such deaths to 271, including 112 children, it added.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. It does not say whether those killed by Israeli attacks are civilians or combatants, but it says around half are women and children.
The UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel disputes its toll but has not provided its own.
Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
