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UN-backed organization officially declares famine in Gaza

Iran Press TV

Friday, 22 August 2025 1:49 AM

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-supported entity tasked with assessing global hunger, has officially declared a famine in Gaza City for the first time.

Established in 2004, the IPC has only recognized four famines, the last being in Sudan last year. Despite previous warnings about imminent famine in Gaza, the IPC hesitated to formalize a declaration due to insufficient data until now.

The declaration comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu intensifies the genocidal war in Gaza City, which is inhabited by approximately 500,000 people.

Netanyahu has previously denied the existence of famine in the region.

To meet the criteria for declaring a famine, the IPC dictates that at least 20% of households must experience extreme food scarcity, 30% of children must suffer from acute malnutrition, and a minimum of two people per 10,000 must die daily from starvation.

The IPC will classify the famine as occurring in the "Gaza Governorate," which includes Gaza City and surrounding towns.

According to the IPC briefing, the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, with more than half a million residents facing dire conditions marked by food deprivation and mortality.

The famine is expected to spread to other areas by the end of September, affecting approximately 1.07 million people, who are currently in a state of "emergency" food insecurity.

Netanyahu faces significant international criticism for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, prompting Israel to announce measures to facilitate the entry of more aid. He asserted that "hundreds of trucks" have been allowed entry and refuted that Israel is implementing a "starvation policy."

In anticipation of a full-scale military takeover of Gaza City, Israel has mobilized 60,000 reservists. Israeli forces are reported to have established positions on the city's outskirts amidst ongoing airstrikes, leading to the mass displacement of residents.

The IPC and its partner organizations, including Save the Children and UNICEF, predict worsening food security conditions in Gaza over the coming months. Nearly a third of Gaza's population is expected to face catastrophic living conditions, while those in emergency status could rise to 1.14 million.

This declaration marks a historic event as it is the first officially recognized famine in the Middle East, and only the fifth time the IPC has issued a famine declaration, with previous instances occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the context of the ongoing war, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that 271 individuals had succumbed to starvation, 112 of whom were children.

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the Zionist entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of death and destruction against Palestinians.

The genocidal war has so far killed nearly 62,122 Palestinians and injured 156,758 others, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry of Gaza.

Israel has sealed all border crossings, blocking the entry of aid and further worsening Gaza's already dire humanitarian crisis since March 2, when it violated its ceasefire agreement with Hamas.