Famine Declared in Gaza City as Crisis Deepens
A famine has officially been declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas, and it is being described as entirely man-made. According to UN-backed experts, the situation has reached the most severe classification of food insecurity, meaning thousands of people are already starving, and unless there is immediate action, the number of deaths will rise dramatically.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, is the global authority that assesses famine conditions. In its report, the IPC stated that all three criteria for famine have been met: at least 20% of households have no access to enough food, at least 30% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and at least two people per 10,000 are dying every day due to starvation. Only four famines have been formally declared by the IPC since it was created in 2004, which underlines how rare and grave this declaration is.
The report stresses that the famine could be stopped. It is not the result of natural disaster but of restrictions, conflict, and blockades that have cut people off from food, clean water, and medical care. The experts said the time for debate has passed, and that every day of delay will mean more unnecessary deaths. Without a ceasefire to allow large-scale humanitarian aid, the suffering is only expected to grow.
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Inside Gaza, the stories from residents are heartbreaking. Families are surviving on one meal a day, often just lentils or rice if they can find it. Many parents go hungry so their children can eat, and some children are already suffering visibly from malnutrition. Aid kitchens exist, but long lines, poor-quality food, and the sheer lack of supplies make them almost unreachable for many. Mothers describe watching their children weaken, with no ability to provide nutritious food. In some cases, children have risked their lives by traveling to aid distribution points, only to return with small amounts of food that barely last a day.
The declaration also covers other towns like Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, where famine is expected within weeks. Conditions in northern Gaza are believed to be even worse, but data collection has been nearly impossible because of the ongoing fighting.
International aid groups say they are struggling to get supplies into Gaza due to damaged infrastructure, Israeli restrictions, and the collapse of local systems of distribution. Even when aid does arrive, it is often looted or insufficient. The UN has warned that civilians are even being killed as they try to reach food deliveries.
Israel has rejected the famine declaration, calling it false and politically motivated. Officials point to aid trucks that have entered Gaza, but humanitarian workers say the deliveries are nowhere near enough to meet the needs of nearly two million people. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have spoken of launching new military operations in Gaza City, something aid groups warn could make an already catastrophic situation even worse.
The report leaves little doubt: Gaza is in the midst of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. Unless food, medicine, and clean water are allowed in at scale, the death toll from starvation will rise sharply. For the families now boiling lentils over makeshift fires or sharing a single bag of rice among ten people, the famine is not an abstract warning—it is their daily reality.
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