Israel rejected a United Nations-backed report that declared famine in Gaza, claiming it contained “gross forgeries.” A foreign ministry official warned Jerusalem would lobby donor countries to cut funding unless the report is withdrawn.

In an Aug. 22 report, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine is already taking place in the Gaza Governorate and is likely to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September. The report said about one-third of Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents — about 641,000 people — could soon face catastrophic starvation.

According to the IPC, 132,000 children under age 5 are projected to suffer acute malnutrition through 2026, including more than 41,000 severe cases. It said over 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women also require urgent nutrition support.

The Foreign Ministry issued a formal letter demanding the report’s withdrawal and warned that if it is not retracted, Israel will urge donor states to freeze funding to the IPC “until professional credibility is restored.” It also distributed a PowerPoint presentation titled “The IPC Fraud,” which described the process as “shooting the arrow and then drawing the target.” One slide read: “The facts are clear: The IPC report is forged.”

The IPC did not respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.

At a Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Dorothy Shea, the acting U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said that hunger was a real issue and a priority for the U.S., but also took issue with the IPC report. 

“We can only solve problems with credibility and integrity. Unfortunately, the recent report from the IPC doesn’t pass the test either. One of the report’s key authors has a lengthy record of bias against Israel, including openly justifying the Houthi terrorist attacks on Israeli civilian targets. By his own measure, he ought to have recused himself. This helps explain why the normal standards were changed for this declaration, raising significant questions,” she said.

Women engage with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) workers.  (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation)

In response to Fox News Digital’s questions, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the U.N. Secretary General, defended the IPC process and rejected Israel’s claims: “The data that the IPC put out on famine in Gaza is robust. It is scientific and it is technical,” Dujarric said. “IPC famine analysis uses a standard measurement … reviewed carefully by an independent group of experts who confirmed that a famine is taking place in Gaza Governorate.”

He said the IPC relied on “recent and verified” U.N. agency data streams including WHO, UNICEF, UNRWA, and WFP, while also considering figures from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

On whether Hamas’s exploitation of aid factored in, Dujarric said the report “illustrates the constraints that hinder humanitarian organizations from distributing aid and stand in the way of allowing people to get the aid they need.”

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) posted this photo that shows humanitarian aid pallets waiting to be distributed in Gaza. (COGAT)

On Thursday, Secretary-General António Guterres claimed that “Famine is no longer a looming possibility — it is a present-day catastrophe. People are dying from hunger, families are being torn apart by displacement and despair,” Guterres told reporters before briefing the Security Council.