Famine is occurring in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to spread to central and southern areas by the end of September, a global hunger monitor has warned.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative said on Friday that famine was occurring in the Gaza governorate, a region where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in northern Gaza, and that it was likely to reach the central region of Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza by the end of next month.
After 22 months of conflict, more than half a million people are facing famine (IPC Phase 5), a catastrophic situation characterised by starvation, acute malnutrition, and mortality, it said. Another 1.07 million people – 54 percent of the population – are facing emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 396,000 people (20 percent) are in crisis (IPC Phase 3).
Conditions are expected to further worsen between mid-August and the end of September 2025, with famine projected to expand to the central Deir el-Balah and southern Khan Younis areas.
By the end of this period, almost a third of the population of Gaza – nearly 641,000 people – is expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), while the number of people in emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely increase to 1.14 million, or some 58 percent of the population.
This marks the most severe deterioration since the IPC partnership – which comprises 21 organisations including UN agencies, NGOs, technical agencies and regional bodies – began analysing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip.
It also marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in Gaza.
The IPC global initiative described the situation as “a race against time”, adding that “famine must be stopped at all costs”.
It warned that acute malnutrition was projected to continue worsening “rapidly”.
At least 132,000 children under the age of five will be at risk of death from acute malnutrition by June 2026, it said. This number has doubled compared with the IPC estimates reported in May 2025.
This includes at least 41,000 severe cases at heightened risk of death.
Nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will require an urgent nutrition response, the IPC initiative added.
‘Man-made disaster’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Gaza’s famine was a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself.”
“Famine is not only about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival,” Guterres said. “People are starving. Children are dying. And those with the duty to act are failing.”
The UN chief said Israel, as the occupying power, has “unequivocal obligations” under international law, including the duty to unsure that food and medical supplies are made available to the population of Gaza.
“We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity,” he said. “No more excuses. The time for action is not tomorrow – it is now.”
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said Gaza’s famine was taking place “within a few hundred metres of food,” as aid trucks remain stuck at land crossings amid Israeli restrictions on commercial and humanitarian deliveries.
“It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war,” Fletcher told a press conference.
In a plea to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fletcher demanded that Israel “end the retribution” and open Gaza’s crossings for unrestricted access.
“Let us get food and other supplies in and at the massive scale required,” he said. “For humanity’s sake, let us in.”
‘No famine’ in Gaza
Israel does not accept that there is widespread malnutrition among Palestinians in Gaza and disputes the hunger fatality figures, arguing that the deaths are due to other medical causes.
Responding to the IPC report, Israel’s foreign ministry said there was no famine in Gaza.
“Over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war, and in recent weeks a massive influx of aid has flooded the Strip with staple foods and caused a sharp decline in food prices, which have plummeted in the markets,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ahead of the report’s release, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, preemptively attacked its findings. “You know who IS starving? The hostages kidnapped and tortured by uncivilised Hamas savages,” he wrote on X.
“Maybe the over fed terrorists could share some of their warehouse full they stole with hungry people especially the hostages”.
Israel has been insisting that Hamas is starving the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza, some of whom appeared emaciated in recent footage released by the Palestinian group.
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in March and has severely restricted aid entering the territory since May, routing supplies via the controversial Isael and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) scheme. According to the UN, more than 1,300 people seeking food supplies have been killed since late May, including 859 at GHF aid distribution sites, which are under the control of the Israeli military and private US contractors.
Amnesty International, among other human rights groups, has accused Israel of enacting a “deliberate policy” of starvation in Gaza and of “systematically destroying the health, wellbeing and social fabric of Palestinian life”.
