The world’s largest authority on food crises declared that Gaza City, the largest governorate in the Gaza Strip, is officially experiencing famine. If the international community doesn’t intervene, the famine will spread – fast.
By Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau August 22, 2025
The world’s largest authority on food crises declared Friday that Gaza City, the largest governorate in the Gaza Strip, is officially experiencing a “man-made famine,” and that other areas in the besieged strip are not far behind.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published a report on Friday saying that in Gaza City and the surrounding areas, which are now the target of intensified Israeli military attacks, roughly 30% of households are experiencing catastrophic levels of famine.
According to the IPC, more than 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip, which make up roughly a quarter of the population, are either close to or have already reached catastrophic levels of famine (IPC Phase 5). If the situation on the ground does not change quickly, that number is expected to rise to more than 641,000 – one third of the population – by the end of September, while those in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely rise to 1.14 million, or 58% of the population.
The IPC also said that between now and next year, “at least 132,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition — double the IPC estimates from May 2025. This includes over 41,000 severe cases of children at heightened risk of death.”
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.
-IPC report
“As this famine is entirely man-made, 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. Any further delay—even by days—will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of Famine-related mortality,” the report stated.
“If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies, and basic health, nutrition, and WASH services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially,” it continued. The IPC also appealed directly to the international community, saying the world “can no longer afford to be diverted by short-term, marginal improvements; the scale of the crisis demands a sustained, large-scale response. “
Friday’s report marked the first time famine was declared in the Middle East.
The IPC warned that the Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah governorates in Gaza, which are already experiencing severe food shortages, will reach the final stage of famine, similar to Gaza City, in the coming weeks.
The report also noted that experts believe the situation in the northern Gaza Strip, north of Gaza City, is likely similar or worse than the famine currently being experienced in Gaza City, but that due to lack of access to the north – areas like Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun – and available data, a formal classification could not be made for that area. “Urgent steps should be taken to allow for a full humanitarian assessment in this governorate,” the report said.
The report explained that the factors contributing to the catastrophic food shortage in the region include “the destruction of local food production systems, the imposition of goods restrictions, and the displacement of the population away from food sources or available production systems.”
It also noted that the trickle of aid that has been permitted by the Israeli army to enter Gaza, in addition to air-dropped assistance carried out by some Arab countries, are insufficient to fill the current gaps in food consumption in the Gaza Strip, and expressed “grave concern” over the “large-scale killing of civilians while trying to access food deliveries and the inadequate planning, implementation, and monitoring of the privatized food distributions conducted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).”
“Constant cycles of increased humanitarian access followed by severe restrictions, together with stark disparities among vulnerable populations, have left many at heightened risk of a rapid collapse in health and nutrition status.
Increasing reports of malnutrition-related deaths indicate that the most vulnerable in society are beginning to succumb. This trend is expected to increase amongst vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases, before spreading to the wider population,” the report said.
Government authorities in the Gaza Strip confirmed the findings of the report. The Director of the Government Media Office in Gaza City stated that 1.2 million children in the Strip have effectively entered the fifth stage of hunger, due to the continued closure of crossings by the Israeli army and the prevention of importing the necessary quantities for this large population.
He pointed out that since May 27, 2025, Israel began allowing dozens of trucks under enormous international and media pressure. Still, only 14% of the actual needs of the population were delivered, leaving the rest of Gaza’s residents without food.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, a total of 273 people in Gaza have died from starvation as of August 22, 2025, more than 100 of them children.
Friday’s report comes on the heels of months of warnings from local Palestinian and global health institutions, including the IPC itself, that Gaza was fast plunging into catastrophic conditions of famine and starvation due to the Israeli siege.
Despite this, Israel has continued to deny the reality on the ground. In response to Friday’s report, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement that “there is no famine in Gaza,” and accused the IPC report of relying on “Hamas lies”.
As the genocide in Gaza approaches two years, Israel has ramped up its attacks, vowing a full-scale military takeover and occupation of Gaza City by October 7, 2025. Residents in Gaza City say the military invasion has begun, and has already resulted in the total destruction of entire historic neighborhoods in Gaza City.
The IPC report on Friday highlighted Israel’s military plans in Gaza City, saying that it would severely exacerbate the already catastrophic famine that has set in.
“While not directly included in the analysis team assumptions, it [the takeover of Gaza City] would have a considerable impact on the intensity of conflict and scope of military operations across the northern governorates. Subsequent injuries, deaths, and displacement of populations still residing in the Gaza Governorate would be expected. Any forced relocation of already fragile populations, especially through militarized zones to the south, would have severe consequences on these households on the move and upon arrival. These developments are significantly more severe than the original assumptions used by the analysis team for their projection analysis,” the report said.
