The UN-backed Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC) has officially declared famine in Gaza for the first time, saying it is already taking place in Gaza City and surrounding towns, affecting 514,000 displaced Palestinians — nearly a quarter of the enclave’s population.
The IPC, a global hunger monitoring system, said the famine is the result of 22 months of conflict, with over half a million people facing starvation, destitution, and death. It warned the crisis could expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by September, raising the number of people in famine to over 640,000.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk blamed Israel, calling the use of starvation a “war crime.” Israel rejected the findings, insisting no famine exists and accusing aid groups of bias.
Since October 2023, more than 270 Palestinians, including at least 112 children, have died of malnutrition. The UN warns that all 320,000 children under five in Gaza are at risk of acute malnutrition.
This marks the first famine declared outside Africa since the IPC was established in 2004.
It declares famine if three criteria are met: at least 20 percent of households face an extreme lack of food, at least 30 percent of children are suffering acute malnutrition, and two out of every 10,000 are dying each day due to “outright starvation”.
