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Key Points
- A UN-backed famine review committee has found more than half a million people in Gaza are experiencing famine.
- Its report identified evidence of famine in Gaza City and surrounding areas between July and mid August.
- Israel rejects the claim of famine calling the report “unprofessional”.
It added that the situation further north could be even worse than in Gaza City, but limited data prevented any precise classification.
“Israel does not have a policy of starvation,” he said in a statement. “Israel has a policy of preventing starvation. Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip, over one ton of aid per person.”
How is famine classified?
The IPC — an initiative involving 21 aid groups, UN agencies and regional organisations funded by the European Union, Germany, Britain and Canada — has only registered famines four times previously — in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020 and in Sudan in 2024.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Gaza famine was a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself”.
He called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages still held by Hamas and unfettered humanitarian access.
IPC says famine-related mortality could escalate
“The time for debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading,” it read.
“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.”
Britain, Canada, Australia and many European states recently said the humanitarian crisis had reached “unimaginable levels”.
