The UN-backed food security body has declared a full-blown famine in the Gaza Strip, warning that up to 800,000 Palestinians are now enduring catastrophic conditions marked by starvation, destitution, and death.

In a grim assessment released Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine has taken hold in and around Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center.

The area is home to between 500,000 and 800,000 people, most of them displaced and living without proper shelter under the weight of Israel’s months-long blockade and bombardment.

IPC also declared that famine is underway in the Gaza Governorate, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the north.

The report warned that the famine is likely to spread to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Yunis in the south by the end of next month.

The UN-backed experts cautioned that the crisis is “entirely man-made” and could lead to exponentially rising deaths without immediate intervention.

“This famine is entirely man-made; it can be halted and reversed. The time for debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading,” the IPC report said.

It stressed that any delay could result in sharp rise of famine-related deaths in the besieged strip.

“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay – even by days – will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality.”

After 22 months of Israel's genocidal war, over half a million people in Gaza are now in famine conditions (IPC Phase 5), marked by"starvation, destitution and death," the IPC reported.

An additional 1.07 million people are in emergency levels (Phase 4), while 396,000 people (20%) remain in crisis (Phase 3). Among them, about 41,000 severe cases are at heightened risk of death.

This marks the sharpest deterioration since the IPC partnership began assessing acute food insecurity and malnutrition in Gaza.

The IPC global initiative called the crisis “a race against time,” stressing that “famine must be stopped at all costs.”

The UN body cautioned that acute malnutrition is expected to deteriorate further and “rapidly.”

The IPC report also voiced alarm over the ongoing large-scale killing of civilians attempting to access food aid at US-backed Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) centers in Gaza.

The total number of aid seekers killed around the controversial GHF centers since May has now reached about 2,000.

It urged “urgent, comprehensive and sustained action to end the swiftly deteriorating and ever-expanding humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.”

The IPC noted that Gaza’s food system has effectively collapsed, with nearly 98 per cent of cropland either destroyed or inaccessible, livestock wiped out, and fishing completely banned.

In addition, the health system has crumbled, and access to clean drinking water and basic hygiene has been severely restricted.

“If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies and basic health, nutrition and [sanitation and water] services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially,” the report further warned.

The IPC alerted that by June 2026, at least 132,000 children under five could face life-threatening malnutrition.

The report also mentioned that nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will urgently need nutrition support.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Gaza’s famine as a “man-made disaster."

The UN chief also said Israel, as the occupying power, has “unequivocal obligations” under international law to ensure food and medical supplies reach Gaza.

“We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity. No more excuses. The time for action is not tomorrow – it is now,” Guterres said.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed nearly 62,263 Palestinians and injured 157,365 since October 7, 2023, according to Gaza Health Ministry.

At least 71 Palestinians, including 24 aid seekers, have been killed and 251 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the latest 24-hours.

In the same period, at least two people have starved to death in the besieged territory, bringing the total count of hunger-related deaths to 273, including 112 children.