UN declares famine in Gaza, first ever in Middle East

The United Nations (UN)) on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, marking the first time such a declaration has been made in the Middle East, with experts warning that 500,000 people are facing “catastrophic” hunger.

“It is a famine: the Gaza famine,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator. He blamed Israel, accusing it of “systematic obstruction” of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Israel, however, rejected the assessment, with its foreign ministry stating that the declaration that famine is now present in and around Gaza City was “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests”. “There is no famine in Gaza,” it insisted.

The assessment was made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors mandated by the UN to provide early warnings of food crises. 

The IPC defines famine as occurring when 20 per cent of households face extreme food shortages, 30 per cent of children under five suffer acute malnutrition, and at least two in every 10,000 people die daily from starvation or related diseases.

According to the Rome-based IPC, “as of 15 August 2025, famine (IPC Phase 5) — with reasonable evidence — is confirmed in Gaza governorate”, the area that covers Gaza City and its surroundings. The UN estimates that nearly one million people currently live in the governorate.

“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 IPC report said. 

It projected that famine would spread to the Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September, affecting more than three-quarters of Gaza’s total population, or nearly 641,000 people.

The IPC noted that this is “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 widespread hunger.

The report stressed that the crisis in Gaza was “entirely man-made”, driven by a sharp escalation of conflict in July, mass displacement since March, and restricted access to food. 

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In March, Israel completely banned aid supplies from entering Gaza before allowing only very limited quantities from late May, resulting in severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Speaking 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.

UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that “it is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare”. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and unrestricted humanitarian access. “We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity,” he said.

The International Red Cross described the famine declaration as “devastating and entirely foreseeable”. In a statement, it reminded that “under international humanitarian law, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met.”

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