UN declares famine in Gaza, first ever in Middle East

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first time it has done so in the Middle East, with experts warning 500,000 people face "catastrophic" hunger.

"It is a famine: the Gaza famine," said Tom Fletcher, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator.

He blamed Israel, accusing it of "systematic obstruction" of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Israel's foreign ministry said the declaration that famine is now present in and around Gaza City was "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests."

"There is no famine in Gaza," it insisted.

The assessment of famine was made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the U.N. to warn of impending crises. 

It defines famine as occurring when 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food; 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished; and at least two in every 10,000 people die daily from outright starvation or from malnutrition and disease.

U.N. agencies have for months been warning of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has worsened as Israel steps up its war in the enclave.

The Rome-based IPC said that "as of Aug. 15, 2025, famine [IPC Phase 5], with reasonable evidence, is confirmed in Gaza governorate," the area that encompasses Gaza City and its surroundings.

The U.N. estimates that nearly one million people currently live in the Gaza governorate.

"After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death," the IPC report said.

It was projected that famine would spread to the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September, encompassing more than three-quarters of the total Gaza population, or nearly 641,000 people.

The IPC said it was "the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region." 

A famine was projected in Yemen in 2018 but never officially materialised, despite the humanitarian crisis in the country, a spokesperson told AFP.

The Gaza famine should 'haunt us all'

The IPC said the famine in Gaza was "entirely man-made," driven by a sharp escalation of the conflict in July, massive displacement of people since mid-March and restricted access to food.

In early March, Israel completely banned aid supplies from Gaza, before allowing very limited quantities to enter at the end of May, leading to severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Fletcher said the famine should "haunt us all."

"It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel," he said.

U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said, "It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed calls for an immediate cease-fire in the war, the release of all hostages taken by Hamas from Israel, and full humanitarian access to Gaza.

"We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity," he said.

The International Red Cross described the declaration of famine as "devastating and entirely foreseeable."

"Under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met," it said in a statement.

'Too weak to cry'

The lack of food particularly hard hits children. 

In July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished: a six-fold increase since January, according to U.N. agencies.

"The signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat, babies dying from hunger and preventable disease," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

The local food system has collapsed, with an estimated 98 percent of cropland in the Gaza Strip either damaged, inaccessible or both, the IPC said. Livestock is decimated, and fishing is banned.

The severe deterioration of the health system and the lack of safe drinking water and adequate hygiene compound the crisis.

Gathering information is extremely difficult in Gaza.

The IPC said conditions in the North Gaza Governorate, north of Gaza City, may well be worse, but said it did not have enough data.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the IPC's assessment as "political" and asserted that a "massive influx of aid" had entered the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

The Israeli defense ministry body, which oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, accused the authors of relying on "partial data" and ignoring information provided to them.