The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East, warning that over 500,000 residents are now facing “catastrophic” hunger.
The announcement underscores a spiraling humanitarian crisis intensified by more than 22 months of relentless conflict, blocked aid and collapsed local food systems.
U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher, speaking from Geneva, said the famine was entirely preventable. “Food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction,” Fletcher said. “It is a famine that should haunt us all.” Israel’s government immediately rejected the declaration, dismissing the report as “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests,” and asserting that “there is no famine in Gaza.”
The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a coalition of U.N.-backed monitors, confirmed that Gaza City – which houses roughly 20% of the territory’s population – has reached IPC Phase 5, the technical threshold for famine.
By the end of September, the panel expects famine conditions to extend to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, putting nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents at severe risk.
