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Agence France-Presse

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East, with its experts saying 500,000 people were facing “catastrophic” hunger.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel”.
But Israel’s foreign ministry immediately hit back, saying “there is no famine in Gaza”.
In a statement, it slammed the report by the Rome-based IPC panel, saying it was “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests”.
UN agencies have for months been warning of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.
In its latest update on Friday, the IPC said “as of 15 August 2025, famine (IPC Phase 5) – with reasonable evidence – is confirmed in Gaza Governorate”, Gaza City, which covers about 20 per cent of the Gaza Strip.
Famine is projected to expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates by the end of September, which would cover around two-thirds of the Palestinian territory.
“After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death,” the report said.
This number, based on information gathered between July 1 and August 15, is expected to increase to nearly 641,000 people – nearly a third of the population – by the end of September.

The IPC said this was the most severe deterioration in the situation since it began analysing hunger in the Gaza Strip.
It said the change was driven by a sharp escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas, and the resulting massive displacement of people, combined with the severe restriction of access to humanitarian and commercial supplies of food.
After the UN famine declaration, Hamas on Friday called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.
In a statement published online, the group called for “immediate action by the UN and the security council to stop the war and lift the siege” and demanded that crossings be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water, and fuel”.
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 in Geneva, the UN’s 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 told reporters.
The IPC noted the local food system has also collapsed, with an estimated 98 per cent of cropland in the Gaza Strip either damaged, inaccessible or both, livestock decimated, and fishing banned.
To add to this, the health system has severely deteriorated, while access to safe drinking water and adequate hygiene has been drastically reduced.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) is a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises.

Its definition of a famine has three elements.
Firstly, at least 20 per cent of households – one in five – must have an extreme lack of food.
Second, at least 30 per cent – one in three – of children under five are acutely malnourished.
And third, at least two in every 10,000 people are dying every day because of outright starvation or because of malnutrition and disease.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,263 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.


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UN declares famine in Gaza, blames Israel, as 500,000 face catastrophic hunger

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, July 26. Photo: AP

Samah Matar poses for a photo with her sons, Yousef, 6, in her arms, and Amir, 4, affected by malnutrition and cerebral palsy, at a UN-run school in Gaza City. Photo: AP

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Coordinator Tom Fletcher said the famine in Gaza could have been prevented. Photo: AFP

Somoud Wahdan waits with her child for trucks of humanitarian aid to arrive in Gaza City. Photo: AP

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City. Photo: AP

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Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

The mother of Mohammed Al-Sukni (centre), who was killed while trying to reach aid trucks, is comforted by relatives outside Shifa Hospital before his funeral in Gaza City on Thursday. Photo: AP

Displaced Palestinians inspect tents destroyed after an Israeli strike on Thursday on the Al-Manasrah camp, which housed more than 200 families in central Gaza. Photo: EPA

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Palestinians wait for a meal distributed by a charity organisation in Gaza on July 30. Photo: Zuma Press Wire/dpa

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Palestinians look on as smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

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A displaced Palestinian family bakes bread at a tent camp where they shelter, as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City, on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

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World

Middle East

The Israeli foreign ministry rejected the UN’s famine declaration, calling the report ‘based on Hamas lies’


The Israeli foreign ministry rejected the UN’s famine declaration, calling the report ‘based on Hamas lies’.


UN declares famine in Gaza, blames Israel, as 500,000 face catastrophic hunger

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Israeli foreign ministry rejected the UN’s famine declaration, calling the report ‘based on Hamas lies’

The Israeli foreign ministry rejected the UN’s famine declaration, calling the report ‘based on Hamas lies’