A panel of food security experts have determined that part of Gaza is suffering from famine, and that it could spread to the rest of the enclave within weeks.

A U.N.-backed food security group has issued a dire warning: famine has officially now taken hold in northern Gaza and is expected to spread in the coming months.

At least half a million people in the enclave were facing the most severe conditions measured by U.N.-backed international experts: starvation, acute malnutrition and death.