In Gaza, mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation

This article is published in association with United Nations.

“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza,” UN-backed food security experts said on Tuesday, in a call to action amid unrelenting conflict, mass displacement and the near-total collapse of essential services in the war-battered enclave.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, two out of three famine thresholds have been reached in Gaza: plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition. Famine has not been declared as the third criteria, deaths from malnutrition, cannot be demonstrated.

There is mounting evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths, which is the third famine indicator.

“It’s clearly a disaster unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens,” said Ross Smith, UN World Food Programme (WFP) director of emergencies.

“This is not a warning, this is a call to action. This is unlike anything we have seen in this century,” he told journalists in Geneva.

Key points

• Children at risk – Over 20,000 treated for acute malnutrition; 16 deaths reported
• Infrastructure collapse – 70 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed
• Displacement crisis – “Safe zones” now cover less than 12 per cent of the Strip

Epic humanitarian catastrophe: Guterres

In New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the alert “confirms what we have feared”, namely that Gaza is on the brink of famine.

“The facts are in, and they are undeniable,” he stated.

“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not a warning. It is a reality unfolding before our eyes.”

Days without food

The context to the alert is stark: one in three people is now going without food for days at a time, the IPC said. Hospitals are also overwhelmed and have treated more than 20,000 children for acute malnutrition since April. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since mid-July.

The alert follows a May 2025 IPC analysis that projected catastrophic levels of food insecurity for the entire population by September. According to the platform’s experts, at least half a million people are expected to be in IPC Phase 5 – catastrophe – which is marked by starvation, destitution and death.

The crisis is driven by nearly two years of conflict sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel in October 2023 that left some 1,250 dead and around 250 people taken hostage.

Heavy fighting has killed thousands and destroyed 70 per cent of Gaza’s infrastructure. Echoing aid agencies’ longstanding concerns for non-combatants, the IPC assessment confirmed that displacement is rampant, with safe areas reduced to less than 12 per cent of the entire territory.

‘A test of our shared humanity’

Gaza has a population of some 2.1 million people and 90 per cent have been displaced, many of them multiple times over. More than 762,500 displacements have been recorded since the end of the ceasefire on 18 March.

Meanwhile, humanitarian access remains severely restricted, with aid convoys frequently obstructed or looted. On Sunday, Israel announced that it would begin daily humanitarian pauses in Gaza. More than 100 trucks of aid reportedly entered on Sunday, but the UN continues to uphold the need to flood Gaza with food, fuel and medicine.

The Secretary-General’s statement stressed that “the trickle of aid must become an ocean.”

“This nightmare must end,” Mr. Guterres said.  “Ending this worst-case scenario will take the best efforts of all parties now.”

The UN chief repeated his appeal for an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza and full humanitarian access across the enclave.

“This is a test of our shared humanity, a test we cannot afford to fail,” he said.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), details the dire conditions Gaza’s residents face:

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Ceasefire now

In line with international calls for an end to the war, the IPC platform also calls for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access and the restoration of essential services. Widespread death is imminent without urgent intervention, the report warns.

The food security experts also appealed for the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and critical infrastructure, including health, water, sanitation, roads and telecommunications networks.

IPC alerts draw attention to urgent food security and nutrition crises and do not constitute a famine classification. A new analysis on Gaza is underway and will be published soon.

Famine is confirmed if all three core thresholds are breached: plummeting food consumption, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths. It is extremely difficult to gather robust data on acute malnutrition and related deaths because health systems are “collapsing”, UN agencies WFP and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) explained in a joint alert.

For more details on the IPC and its work tracking hunger and famine conditions follow this link.

Concern for women and girls

Reports indicated on Tuesday that 60,000 Gazans have been killed since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023.

“In Gaza, women and girls are facing the impossible choice of starving to death at their shelters or venturing out in search of food and water at extreme risk of being killed,” said Sofia Calltorp, director of UN Women in Geneva.

Ms. Calltorp also reiterated UN Women’s demand for unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance for all women and girls, the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire.

“We also echo the hopes that this week’s high-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine is a turning point, leading to a viable two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,” she added, referring to the French and Saudi Arabian-led initiative at the UN in New York to push for a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.

Allow full humanitarian access

Asked about the effectiveness of air-dropped aid missions that have just begun in Gaza, WFP’s Mr. Smith described it as “a last resort where there are no other logistics or transport options”.

Air drops are also “far too expensive and inefficient”, carrying “extreme risks” for populations living in overcrowded conditions, he continued, amid reports of injuries to at least 11 Gazans on Sunday.

UN aid agencies have insisted on the need for full access across Gaza to reach vulnerable populations, over and above the Israeli military’s announcement of week-long humanitarian pauses from 10am to 8pm.

“We welcome these humanitarian pauses, and we would like to see the full spirit of them implemented all along, right down to the distribution points, so that we can move quickly and effectively,” said Mr. Smith.

“Until those different delays and approvals clearances, the interaction with armed forces and civilians on the ground – until that is improved – we’re not going to see that sufficient enough change to turn the dial on the humanitarian situation inside Gaza.”