Gaza City Facing First Confirmed Famine, UN-Baked Assessment Reveals

By Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1432 EAT on Friday 22 August 2025

A new analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reveals that the majority of Gaza’s population is now at risk of death due to extreme food shortages.

More than 1.5 million people are facing malnutrition or starvation, while an additional 20% of the population is experiencing what the IPC categorizes as a food “crisis” — the third-highest level on its global scale.

Madeleine McGivern, a human rights monitor who has worked in both Gaza and Israel, says her contacts in the region are struggling to find words to describe the scale of suffering caused by the severe shortage of supplies in the Strip.

“And now, we’re talking about famine,” she says. “The body begins to shut down when it’s deprived of food and water — slowly, painfully. It’s harrowing to witness, not just physically but emotionally.”

“What is being done to the people of Gaza is, as the UN rightly puts it, a stain on our collective conscience — one that will be remembered for generations.”

“Starvation, death, destitution, and critically high levels of acute malnutrition are now evident,” the report states.

It further concludes that “extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and mortality” must be present for a famine declaration — conditions that global food security experts now confirm have been met in Gaza.

The latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) includes a stark forecast for Gaza over the coming month.

According to the IPC, disease outbreaks are expected to worsen, with rising cases of acute respiratory infections — linked to seasonal factors, malnutrition, and overcrowded living conditions — as well as acute watery and bloody diarrhoea, measles, and polio.

While a “modest improvement in humanitarian access” is anticipated between 16 August and 30 September, the report warns that aid efforts will continue to be severely constrained. Key obstacles include large crowds in need of food and supplies, attacks on aid warehouses, evacuation orders, and fuel shortages.

The IPC concludes that both land deliveries and airdropped aid will remain “insufficient to meet the catastrophic and escalating needs” of Gaza’s population.

Four United Nations agencies — the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) — have renewed their call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and “unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition.”

The warning comes as Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports that 271 people, including 112 children, have died from famine and malnutrition since the start of the war.

In a joint statement, the agencies stress that “famine must be stopped at all costs” and express deep concern over “the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City and any escalation in the conflict,” which they say would have devastating consequences for civilians.

The statement also highlights the accelerating rate of child malnutrition in Gaza, calling the situation “catastrophic.” According to UN figures, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished in July alone, with nearly one in four suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) — the most dangerous form, with both immediate and long-term health consequences.

The UN’s emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has issued a stark warning over the famine in Gaza, calling it a global moral failure and urging immediate action.

Speaking in Geneva, Fletcher said the famine “must spur the world to more urgent action” and should “shame the world to do better.”

He issued a direct appeal to the Israeli government:
“My ask, my plea, my demand to Prime Minister Netanyahu and anyone who can reach him: enough. Ceasefire.”

“Open the crossings — north and south, all of them. Let us get food and other supplies in, unimpeded and at the massive scale required. End the retribution,” he added.

Fletcher described the situation as the first famine ever declared in the Middle East — one he said was entirely preventable. He blamed “systemic obstruction” for blocking the UN’s ability to deliver aid.

Asked what he would say to members of the Israeli government or public who continue to deny the existence of famine despite the latest UN-backed report, Fletcher replied:
“I would say to them, as I say to all of you: please read this report. Don’t just listen to me. Read it cover to cover, read it again — and be moved to action.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has rejected accusations by Israel that it altered its standard methodology to declare famine in Gaza.

In a technical clarification, the IPC explained that its assessment relies on different methods of measuring malnutrition in children under five, depending on the availability of data.

Typically, a 30% threshold is applied when weight-for-height measurements are available. However, due to current conditions in Gaza, this data could not be collected. In such cases, the IPC uses an alternative, internationally recognized method based on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC).

Under this approach, famine is indicated when 15% of children have arm circumferences below a critical threshold — a standard the IPC says has been in place for over a decade and was most recently used in famine assessments in Sudan.

The agency emphasized that the use of MUAC “does not represent a ‘lowered threshold’ in IPC methodology,” but rather reflects “the continued application of established IPC standards.”

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