The largest city on the Gaza Strip is held by hunger, according to major global authority on the food crisis.
The integrated food security stage classification (IPC) said Friday that hunger is occurring in Gaza city, and that it is likely to spread to cities in the southern part of Khan Yunis and Deia Al Bala without ending ceasefires and humanitarian aid restrictions.
Aid Groups and Food Security Experts I’ve been warning for months Gaza was on the brink of hunger, but this is the first official confirmation.
The Israeli military agency responsible for transferring aid to the territory rejected the report on Friday, calling it “false and biased.” The agency known as Cogat rejected allegations that there was hunger in Gaza and said important steps have been taken in recent weeks to increase the amount of aid entering the strip.
Hungry is currently holding Gaza’s biggest city
There is a risk that it will spread across the territory without a ceasefire, The end of the restriction About humanitarian assistance.
This is the first time an IPC has confirmed hunger in the Middle East and will come in a few months Warnings from aid groups Israeli food and other aid to Gaza, as well as its military attacks, were causing it. High level of hunger Palestinian civilians, especially among children.
Over 500,000 people in Gaza (about a quarter of the population) Devastating level of hungerand many are at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, according to a report from the world’s leading authority on the food crisis.
Here’s why:
The situation is deteriorating significantly in Gaza
The IPC report states that the most severe deterioration has been seen since the start of analyzing food insecurity and malnutrition in Gaza from early July to mid-August. And despite the “unprecedented pace” surrounding that time slot, IPC hopes things get worse.
A third of Gaza’s population is expected to experience catastrophic levels of hunger by the end of next month, the IPC said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu I deny that I’m hungry In Gaza, we call reports of “lies” of starvation that Hamas promoted.
Palestinians rush to gather humanitarian aid thrown into Zawida, Gaza Strip on July 31, 2025 (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
Hunger occurs when these conditions are met
IPC was founded in 2004 during Somalia’s Hungry. This includes more than a dozen UN agencies, aid groups, governments and other agencies.
Formal classification is cautioned as hunger can appear in the pocket and is sometimes small.
The IPC has only checked hunger a few times. It was part of Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and last year it was part of the western Darfur region of Sudan. This is the first confirmed hunger in the Middle East.
If all three of these conditions are confirmed, assess the area like hunger.
– 20% of households are either extremely scarce or inherently hungry for food.
– At least 30% of children aged 6 months to 5 suffer from acute malnutrition based on measurements from weight. Alternatively, 15% of that age group suffer from acute malnutrition based on the circumference of the upper arm.
– At least two children, or under five, under the age of five, are almost dying daily due to starvation or malnutrition or disease interactions.
Gaza was a big challenge
Gaza raised major challenges for experts Israel has strictly restricted access It makes it difficult to collect data in the territory.
In another report Friday, the Hungry Review Board, or the FRC, also said they had concluded that there was hunger in parts of Gaza. The FRC is a group of independent international food security experts that IPC consult regularly.
Groups act as an additional layer of validation if the data indicates that there may be hunger.
Data analyzed between July 1st and August 15th provided clear evidence that the thresholds for starvation and acute malnutrition were met. Although it was more difficult to collect mortality data, the IPC said it would be reasonable to conclude from evidence that it is likely that the required threshold has been reached.
It is not always clear that hunger is the cause of death
Most children’s severe malnutrition occurs due to a combination of nutrient deficiencies along with infection, leading to other symptoms that lead to diarrhea and dehydration, says Alex de Waal, author of The History and Future of Hunger and executive director of the World Peace Foundation.
“In contrast to infection, there are no standard guidelines for doctors to classify the cause of death as ‘malnutrition’,” he said.
When starvation occurs, it is often relatively rare that hunger alone will die. Much more people have died from a combination of malnutrition, illness, and other forms of deprivation. All of these count as excessive deaths separate from violence. This could be due to a food crisis or hunger, he said.
