Gaza has entered a famine, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a globally recognized mechanism for assessing levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, has officially declared.
“A famine has been officially declared in Gaza, with an estimated spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip by the end of September,” the IPC said.
The globally recognized system for classifying food insecurity and malnutrition has only declared a famine four times since 2004. This announcement marks the first time the IPC has declared a famine outside of Africa. Gaza City has a population of about half a million.
Previous famines were confirmed in Somalia in 2011, and in Sudan in 2017, 2020 and 2024. Deaths from malnutrition and hunger are rising sharply, according to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which were verified by the World Health Organization.
In the first 20 days of August, 133 deaths related to malnutrition or hunger were recorded, including 25 children, the ministry said.
According to the latest data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, almost 13,000 new admissions of children for acute malnutrition were recorded in July.
The Israeli military office Cogat, responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid in Gaza, reacted to the IPC report, stating that it “rejects the findings of the report, especially the claim of hunger in Gaza”.
The statement stated that “the report is false and is based on partial, biased data provided by Hamas”, and accused the IPC of being one-sided and ignoring, as they say, “the extensive humanitarian efforts that Israel is making in Gaza”.
