Gaza Faces Man-Made Famine: UN Report Warns of Worsening Crisis as Ceasefire Urged

The Gaza Strip is currently grappling with a man-made famine, according to a recent report by a United Nations-backed initiative. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared that parts of the Gaza Governorate, including Gaza City, are now experiencing famine due to relentless conflict over the past several months.

The IPC asserted that this crisis can be reversed as it is entirely man-made and called for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to reach all sectors of the Gaza Strip. Without a truce, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially due to the absence of vital supplies.

Israel has occasionally restricted or cut off aid to the enclave during nearly two years of conflict. In some instances, individuals have died from starvation and hunger while trying to receive aid at distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial organization supported by the United States and Israel.

The Israeli agency responsible for distributing aid, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), disputed the IPC report before its release, claiming it relied on biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas. COGAT argued that their own efforts to alleviate humanitarian conditions in Gaza were overlooked by the report’s authors.

However, aid groups, the UN, and harrowing testimonies from Gaza paint a different picture of the ongoing crisis. US President Donald Trump acknowledged “real starvation” in Gaza last month, contradicting statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed that no one is currently experiencing starvation in the territory.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the situation as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself.” He emphasized Israel’s obligation under international law to ensure food and medical supplies for the population. Guterres urged the world not to allow this crisis to continue with impunity.

UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher urged the global community to read the IPC report thoroughly, describing it as a “famine” that could have been prevented if obstructions by Israel were removed. He expressed his sorrow and anger at the dire situation in Gaza during a recent news briefing.

Media outlets such as CNN have reported extensively on hunger and starvation in Gaza. Last month, CNN documented the death of 4-year-old Razan Abu Zaher, who succumbed to complications arising from malnutrition at a hospital in central Gaza. The skeletal remains of this child were laid out on a stone slab.

The Palestinian health ministry recorded two more deaths due to starvation Thursday, bringing the total number of malnutrition-related fatalities to 271, with 112 of them being children. Friday’s IPC report also warned that malnutrition poses a significant threat to 132,000 children under five years old through June 2026, including 41,000 severe cases – double the number reported in May.

Formal famine determinations are rare, but the IPC has declared famines in Somalia (2011), South Sudan (2017 and 2020), and parts of Sudan’s western Darfur region last year. This is the first time the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East.

The IPC system uses a five-phase scale to measure the severity of food insecurity. A famine can only be declared when specific conditions are met, including at least 20% of all households experiencing extreme food shortage, 30% or more children being acutely malnourished or 15% of children suffering from acute malnutrition based on body measurements, and at least two deaths per every 10,000 people each day due to starvation or the interaction between malnutrition and disease.