The United Nations(UN) officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, the first in the Middle East, warning that more than half million residents are now facing “catastrophic” hunger.
The declaration marks a deepening humanitarian crisis caused by more than 22 months of ongoing conflict, aid cuts and the collapse of the local food system.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in Geneva that the famine is entirely preventable. “The systematic blockade is causing food to pile up at the borders,” Fletcher said. “This is a famine that should concern us all.” The Israeli government quickly dismissed the report, calling it “a fraud perpetrated by Hamas’s vested interests” and insisting that “there is no famine in Gaza.”
The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a coalition of UN-backed monitors, confirmed that Gaza City – home to about 20 percent of the territory’s population – had reached IPC Phase 5, the technical threshold for famine.
By the end of September, the panel expects famine conditions to spread to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, putting about two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents at serious risk.
According to the IPC, 98% of cropland has been damaged, inaccessible or destroyed, livestock populations have been depleted, and fishing – a key source of protein – has been banned.
Markets are almost empty, commercial imports are limited and unaffordable, and most residents rely entirely on aid, which continues to be erratic due to border restrictions and ongoing conflicts. Israel imposed a near-total blockade in March 2025, blocking most humanitarian aid for months.
Although limited aid deliveries began in late May Food aid has resumed in Gaza, but volumes are small and distribution remains chaotic. A UN aid report found that about 90 percent of food loaded into Gaza is diverted or never reaches those in need.
Rick Peppercorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in Palestine, said the overall volume of food supplies was completely inadequate to prevent further deterioration. “The market needs to be filled. Dietary diversity is essential, but it is largely missing.”
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