UN-backed IPC declares full-blown famine in Gaza

GENEVA/GAZA (MNTV) — The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) has confirmed that famine is now unfolding in Gaza Governorate and warned it is set to engulf Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in the coming weeks.

The 96-page report, published in Geneva on Friday, is the fifth such emergency review for Gaza since late 2023 — an unprecedented frequency that reflects the relentless deterioration of conditions.

“Never before has the Committee had to return so many times to the same crisis,” the experts wrote. “Suffering has not only persisted but intensified and spread until famine has begun to emerge.”

Criteria for declaring famine

The IPC defines famine (Phase 5) as when three thresholds are breached:

• 20% of households suffer extreme food shortages,
• 30% of children suffer acute malnutrition, and
• Two adults or four children per 10,000 people die each day from starvation or related disease.

The Geneva report confirmed that all three thresholds have been surpassed in Gaza Governorate. “There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that famine exists in Gaza today,” the FRC stated.

Where famine Is unfolding

• Gaza City (Governorate): Already in famine (IPC Phase 5). At least 35% of households projected in famine conditions by end-September, with malnutrition at “extremely critical” levels.
• Deir al-Balah & Khan Younis: Currently at IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), but famine thresholds expected to be crossed before September 30.
• North Gaza: “Similar or worse than Gaza City,” but insufficient data due to access restrictions.
• Rafah: Largely depopulated; any remaining residents at “high concern.”

Destruction of food systems

The IPC describes a food economy in ruins:

• 90% of cropland was destroyed by bombardment.
• 91% of greenhouses and 82% of wells eliminated.
• 96% of poultry, 96% of cattle, and two-thirds of goats and sheep have been wiped out.
• Fishing collapsed: 75% of facilities destroyed, with Gaza’s coast largely off-limits.

Only 1.5% of farmland remained usable by late July. As a result, “the ability to produce, process, and distribute food resources has collapsed almost completely,” the Geneva report concluded.

Hunger in numbers

• Average caloric intake: 1,394 kcal per person/day (only 66% of the recommended 2,100 kcal).
• Half the population consumes just one or two food groups per day, mostly wheat flour, rice, or lentils.
• Protein, vegetables, fruit, and oils are now luxuries.
• By July, 87–94% of households reported “poor food consumption” across all governorates.
• In Gaza City, 36% of families reported very severe hunger, a clear famine indicator.

The committee warned that “short bursts of aid cannot compensate for months of deprivation. Even meeting minimum caloric needs now would not reverse widespread malnutrition without sustained and surplus supplies.”

Civilians dying at food distribution sites

The IPC highlighted the “continued and large-scale killing of civilians while trying to access food deliveries.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the only major food distributor still operating, was harshly criticized:

• Distribution windows average 23 minutes a day.
• Families must walk up to six hours round-trip in 40°C heat to reach them.
• The most vulnerable — children, women, elderly, disabled — are effectively excluded.

“Few are able to collect more energy from the distribution than they expend in reaching it,” the experts observed.

The report documented deaths from stampedes, shootings, and exhaustion near GHF aid lines.

Markets, prices, and desperation

• Food prices have risen 233% to 15,000% above pre-war levels.
• Wheat flour swung between $30 in June and $15 in July, depending on erratic shipments.
• 80% of households report no income.
• 28% of families in Gaza City are begging; 15% scavenge garbage for food.
• Vendors report stock levels down by 95% in some areas, with many markets non-functional.

Health system in freefall

The famine is compounded by a collapsed health sector:

• Only 18 of 36 hospitals still function, partially.
• Just 39% of 170 primary health centers are operational.
• WHO reports doctors and nurses themselves “suffering from chronic hunger and weakness.”
• In July:

o   43% of children under five had diarrhea

o   58% had fever

o   49% had skin infections

o   25% had respiratory infections

The Geneva committee warned: “Outbreaks of measles, polio and other epidemics are now a grave risk, threatening mass mortality.”

Aid bottlenecked at the border

Despite enough food being stockpiled to feed Gaza’s 2.1 million people for three months, aid is largely blocked.

• Of 1,445 humanitarian missions requested since March, only 35% were allowed by Israeli authorities.
• Airdrops delivered 341 metric tons of food in August—against the 62,000 MT needed monthly.
• The report called airdrops “a drop in the bucket,” warning that they bypass the most vulnerable and sometimes cause injuries.

Displacement and overcrowding

• Since March, 800,000 Gazans have been displaced, many multiple times.
• 86% of Gaza’s territory is now under evacuation or military zones.
• Families crowd into unsafe coastal strips, tents, and ruins.
• Satellite imagery shows population density reaching extreme, unlivable levels.

“Displaced families are living among sewage, unexploded ordnance, collapsing buildings, and extreme heat,” the report said.

Final warning from Geneva

The IPC Famine Review Committee concluded with a stark appeal:
“This famine is entirely man-made, and it can be halted and reversed. If a ceasefire is not implemented and essential food, water, health and nutrition services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially. Any delay — even by days — will cost countless lives.”

The Geneva report confirms famine in Gaza, projects further spread, and makes clear this is a man-made catastrophe—one that can still be stopped if access is granted.