A UN-backed alert released Tuesday confirms that famine conditions now unfolding across Gaza, with acute malnutrition, widespread starvation, and hunger-related deaths rapidly rising. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading international system for tracking famine risks, said “famine thresholds have been reached” for food consumption and malnutrition in Gaza City. The IPC cited mounting evidence of “catastrophic” hunger across the enclave’s 2.1 million people.
The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out. Food is dangerously scarce, access is erratic, and the conditions for children are fatal ,UN reiterates.“It’s clearly a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens,” said Ross Smith, UN World Food Programme (WFP) director of emergencies.“This is not a warning, this is a call to action. This is unlike anything we have seen in this century,” he told journalists in Geneva.
UN data shows over 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza between April and mid-July. More than 3,000 were diagnosed as severely malnourished. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since July 17.
UN Secretary General António Guterres called the crisis a “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.” UN SG Guterres said, “This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes. The facts are in, and they are undeniable, Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions” he stated.”
The context to the alert is stark: one in three people is now going without food for days at a time, the IPC said. Hospitals are also overwhelmed and have treated more than 20,000 children for acute malnutrition since April. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since mid-July.
The alert follows a May 2025 IPC analysis that projected catastrophic levels of food insecurity for the entire population by September. According to the platform’s experts, at least half a million people are expected to be in IPC Phase 5 – catastrophe – which is marked by starvation, destitution and death.
The crisis is driven by nearly two years of conflict sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel in October 2023 that left some 1,250 dead and around 250 people taken hostage.
Heavy fighting has killed thousands and destroyed 70 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure. Echoing aid agencies’ longstanding concerns for non-combatants, the IPC assessment confirmed that displacement is rampant, with safe areas reduced to less than 12 per cent of the entire territory.
Gaza has a population of some 2.1 million people and 90 percent have been displaced, many of them multiple times over. More than 762,500 displacements have been recorded since the end of the ceasefire on 18 March.
Meanwhile, humanitarian access remains severely restricted, with aid convoys frequently obstructed or looted. On Sunday, Israel announced that it would begin daily humanitarian pauses in Gaza. More than 100 trucks of aid reportedly entered on Sunday, but the UN continues to uphold the need to flood Gaza with food, fuel and medicine.
The Secretary-General’s statement stressed that “the trickle of aid must become an ocean.” “This nightmare must end,” UN SG Guterres said. “Ending this worst-case scenario will take the best efforts of all parties now.”
The UN chief repeated his appeal for an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full humanitarian access across the enclave. “This is a test of our shared humanity, a test we cannot afford to fail,” he said.
“In Gaza, women and girls are facing the impossible choice of starving to death at their shelters or venturing out in search of food and water at extreme risk of being killed,” said Sofia Calltorp, director of UN Women in Geneva. Ms. Calltorp also reiterated UN Women’s demand for unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance for all women and girls, the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire.
“We also echo the hopes that this week’s high-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine is a turning point, leading to a viable two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” she added, referring to the French and Saudi Arabian-led initiative at the UN in New York to push for a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel rejected claims of deliberate starvation. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the accusations “a lie” and blamed Hamas for the humanitarian breakdown.
“Is there a starvation policy? No, the contrary is right,” Saar told reporters Monday. He said 5,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza over the last two months and claimed Israel had opened multiple corridors and allowed airdrops to help UN agencies deliver supplies.
However, aid agencies say the situation on the ground tells a different story. UN and humanitarian organizations report that aid distribution remains heavily obstructed and that much of the population has received little or no assistance.
A nurse at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Bakr Salah, said, “My children are starving. They haven’t had a single meal in two days. We keep hearing about aid coming in, but we never see it.”
Bilal Atallah, a father of five in Khan Younis, said he waited all day Monday without receiving food. “I had to buy flour from looters who stole it off aid trucks,” he said. “It cost me $35 for just one kilogram.”
According to the IPC, a famine classification requires three specific benchmarks in a defined area:
- At least 20% of households face extreme food shortages (Phase 5).
- At least 30% of children suffer acute malnutrition.
- Two adults or four children die daily per 10,000 people from starvation or related illness.
While the IPC stopped short of formally declaring famine pending full data verification it confirmed that two thresholds have already been breached in parts of Gaza. The third remains difficult to confirm due to the collapse of Gaza’s health system and the lack of independent access.
Hospitals report most bodies of the deceased show clear signs of severe wasting.
UNICEF and the World Food Programme said the flow of aid remains “barely a trickle.” More than 62,000 metric tons equal to about 3,100 truckloads is needed each month to meet Gaza’s basic food and nutrition needs. Only a fraction of that has arrived.
While Israeli officials point to efforts to facilitate aid deliveries, UN agencies say new corridors and daily “tactical pauses” in fighting have not meaningfully improved access.
Israel’s military coordination office, COGAT, said over 200 trucks were collected from border crossings by the UN on Monday. But the UN’s humanitarian chief said most of those trucks were looted after entry by civilians in desperate conditions. “Most trucks were intercepted before the goods could be distributed,” said UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher. “People are dying while waiting.”
Israel has accused Hamas of hijacking aid. But internal U.S. government reviews and Israeli military officials told press there is no evidence that Hamas has systematically stolen UN aid.
Since Israel launched its military campaign following the October 7 Hamas-led attack, Gaza’s health ministry says more than 60,000 people have been killed. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, and basic services have collapsed.
The IPC report emphasizes that no humanitarian response can succeed without a ceasefire and full access for aid groups.
“The flow of goods must be scaled up. Services must be restored. Safe, consistent humanitarian access must be guaranteed,” the alert concludes. “None of this is possible unless hostilities end.”
As the conflict grinds on, aid workers say the global community must act without delay.
“We cannot wait for an official famine declaration while children are already dying,” WFP Director Cindy McCain said in a statement. “We need to flood Gaza with food now.”
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