The highest level of hunger prevails in Gaza.
This is now stated by the UN expert group IPC.
“This is a direct result of the actions of the Israeli government,” says UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
The UN-backed group IPC has long warned that famine is looming in Gaza, after almost two years of war.
Now the evidence is sufficient: The highest level of hunger is found in Gaza City and its surrounding areas.
"Over half a million people face catastrophic circumstances of hunger, poverty and death," the report says.
Israel has just launched a ground invasion of the same area, with the aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas.
Estimated to spread
More people are expected to suffer the same fate very soon – at the end of September – when the famine is expected to spread to central and southern Gaza, and the cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
“The famine warnings have been clear for months. What is urgently needed now is an increased flow of emergency aid, safe conditions and distribution systems so that we can reach those who need it most, wherever they are,” said Cindy McCain, head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
“They starved to death”
At least 132,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by June 2026. Among them, over 41,000 cases are estimated to be so severe that the children are at risk of dying, the IPC writes in its report.
– Children are not starving to death in Gaza, they are starving to death. It is a famine that is entirely created by people's decisions, or lack of decisions. It is a famine that has developed and is ongoing before the eyes of the whole world. The famine has been allowed, even though food, water and emergency aid are only a few miles away, on the Gaza border. But emergency aid is not being allowed in by Israel. The children are starving to death – and the world is watching. It is completely against human rights. It is indefensible, says Pernilla Baralt, Secretary General at UNICEF Sweden, in response to the report.
Although the IPC has had difficulty obtaining statistics regarding northern Gaza, it is assessed that living conditions there are very difficult or even worse than in Gaza City and its suburbs.
War crimes
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement that using starvation as a weapon is a war crime. The fact that starvation is now occurring in Gaza is a “direct result of the actions of the Israeli government,” he also said.
Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement that Israel, as the occupying power, has a responsibility to provide emergency assistance to the people of Gaza, under international law:
“We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity,” he says.
“Based on lies”
The report also criticizes the fact that Israel has at times completely stopped delivering emergency aid and then allowed some aid to enter Gaza, and that people have been killed during food distributions.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that there is no famine in Gaza, and that the report is"based on lies from Hamas," writes the AFP news agency.
This is the fifth time that the IPC has declared famine since the group was formed in 2004, and the first time that the IPC has declared famine in a location in the Middle East.
