A United Nations-backed report declaring famine in areas of Gaza has sparked a war of words over the conditions in the enclave. 

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released a report on Friday in which it declared for the first time that the Gaza Governorate is experiencing a famine. Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis are meanwhile in severe crisis. Conditions in Northern Gaza are estimated to be as severe as those in the Gaza Governorate or worse. The IPC report does not touch on conditions in Rafah, as it is largely considered to be depopulated.

The IPC, a U.N.-backed initiative involving U.N. agencies, NGOs and technical experts, has been widely considered to be the global standard for classifying food crises.

Israel has fiercely pushed back against the report’s findings, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying it was “an outright lie.” While Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmorstein claimed the report was “tailor-made” based on “Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests” and denied that a famine exists in Gaza.

DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA – AUGUST 10: Palestinians wait with pots in their hands as a charitable organization distributes food.

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a former White House and National Security Council official during both Trump administrations, took issue with the report’s findings, calling them politically motivated. 

“The ideology of destroying Israel and saving Hamas is widespread within the U.N. and far-left NGOs, leading them to change their own guidelines for declaring a famine in Gaza while they ignore an actual famine in Sudan. The data doesn’t support a famine declaration in Gaza, but that doesn’t matter when the conclusion is politically pre-ordained,” Goldberg told Fox News Digital.

Palestinians run towards parachutes carrying aid packages, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip Aug. 18, 2025.  (Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

Goldberg also noted the timing of the report, which came just days after Israel said it would enter Gaza City — which is in the Gaza Governorate — was “the most telling part of it all.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee shared a statement from Netanyahu’s office and said that “tons of food has gone into Gaza but Hamas savages stole it, ate lots of it to become corpulent, sold it on the black market but they didn’t give it to the hostages.”

Hamas terrorists carrying clubs and firearms secure humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya on June 25, 2025. (TPS-IL)

Fifty hostages have been held in Gaza for nearly 700 days. Of those, 20 are believed to be alive while the rest are confirmed dead. Hamas is holding onto their remains. Earlier this month, the terror group released a video of hostage Evyatar David who appeared extremely thin and said he had not eaten in days.