Israeli authorities have sharply criticized a recent publication by an organization that had previously reported famine conditions in parts of Gaza. The officials argue that the report is biased and accuse the organization of reaching conclusions that were “predetermined.”

The organization in question, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which operates with backing from the United Nations, initially stated in August that famine conditions were present in Gaza Governorate. In their latest findings, however, they assert that around 1.6 million Gazans are currently experiencing “high levels of acute food insecurity.”

Major General Ghassan Alian, who serves as the head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which manages issues related to Gaza, criticized the IPC for what he described as “biased claims.” He argued that the report ignored the significant amounts of food that entered the region during ceasefire periods, suggesting that the report’s findings were formed in advance.

In a statement, COGAT emphasized, “It is crucial to remember that this is not the first instance where IPC reports about the Gaza Strip have been issued with extreme predictions and warnings that fail to materialize. Over time, IPC assessments have consistently proven inaccurate and out of touch with real-world data, contradicting verified information on aid volumes, food availability, and market trends. It is vital for the international community to exercise caution, resist misleading narratives and distorted information, and refrain from endorsing a biased and unprofessional report.”

Meanwhile, on May 29, 2025, Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip were seen carrying aid supplies received from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This image, captured by Ramadan Abed and distributed by Reuters, underscores the ongoing humanitarian efforts in the region.

In its latest report, the IPC’s Famine Review Committee addressed the changing circumstances, explaining that “following the publication of the [last] FRC report, there was a partial relaxation of the blockade and an increase in the availability of food and other essential supplies.” While the FRC says this “came too late to avoid famine in Gaza Governorate in July and early August, the persistence of Famine and its spread to other governorates during the projection period has been avoided.”

Gazans carry food airdropped by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on July. 27 (TPS-IL)

In August, the IPC projected that two additional governorates would experience famine by Sept. 30. At the time, several experts disputed the presence of famine conditions, including Dr. David Adesnik, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Adesnik told Fox News Digital that mortality figures, while worrisome, did not reach levels expected during famine conditions. He also said that the prices on key food items had remained relatively stagnant or even declined during the period of alleged famine.

Following the IPC’s latest report, Adesnik said that the IPC are still “dodging the question of proving that they were right” about prior famine declarations.

In assessing the lack of mortality numbers that indicate famine, Adesnik said one of the IPC’s current arguments is that “data largely capture trauma-related deaths and overlook a substantial proportion of non-traumatic mortality.”  He called this “a big leap,” explaining “They’re basically saying that with all of its efforts to track down every name of someone killed during the war, the Gaza Ministry of Health somehow missed all the people who didn’t die because of bullets, shrapnel or falling buildings — that there’s just all these people who would have died of hunger, disease, other things.”

He said that the IPC’s figures show the highest number of malnutrition-related deaths per month being 27, with all malnutrition deaths peaking at 186. “Hundreds of people dying from malnutrition is still a terrible, terrible thing,” Adesnik said. “But we were asking a question: Is this famine? And that is not remotely close to the threshold for determining famine.”

Palestinians await donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo)

The IPC told Fox News Digital that to meet the famine threshold, “at least two in every 10,000 people” “or at least four in every 10,000 children under five are dying daily” on account of “outright starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease.”

In response to questions about its famine data, the IPC told Fox News Digital that “in the case of the Gaza analysis, there was clear evidence that thresholds for starvation and acute malnutrition had been reached, and analysts reasonably assessed from the broader evidence that the mortality threshold (third outcome) has likely been reached.”

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on X that “The IPC also disregards the fact that, on average, between 600 and 800 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, 70% of them carrying food – nearly five times more than what the IPC itself said was required for the Strip.”

Palestinians carry bags and boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo)

Though it is not claiming famine is underway, the IPC still states that in a “worst-case scenario” of a return to conflict, “the entire Gaza Strip is at risk of famine through mid-April 2026.”

Adesnik said that the IPC is merely “guessing about the future.” He noted that accuracy from the IPC holds serious importance given the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice’s allegations of war crimes and genocide against Israel. A declaration of famine would be a “big building block in what seems to prove part of the case.”

Last week, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sanctioned two more members of the ICC for engaging “in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent, including voting with the majority in favor of the ICC’s ruling against Israel’s appeal on December 15.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the State Department “will continue to hold accountable those responsible for the ICC’s morally bankrupt and legally baseless actions against Americans and Israelis.”