Famine Conditions Escalate in Gaza as Experts Warn of Widespread Starvation

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Famine conditions are now unfolding in Gaza, according to the world’s top food crisis monitor, raising the alarm about widespread death if immediate action is not taken. 

A new alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warns that the situation has reached a deadly tipping point amid wartime blockades and aid restrictions.

The IPC — an internationally recognized system used to assess food security — has not formally declared a famine, due largely to restricted access preventing data collection. 

However, its latest findings describe an environment where famine thresholds have already been met or surpassed. Recent evidence shows unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition, especially in children under five. 

Nearly 17% of young children in Gaza City are acutely malnourished, with hospitals seeing an increase in hunger-related deaths.

According to the IPC, three conditions must be met to declare famine: at least 20% of households face extreme food shortages, at least 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and the daily death rate from starvation or disease is at least two adults or four children per 10,000 people. 

While access challenges make formal confirmation difficult, experts say the visible evidence is clear. “This is famine,” said Alex de Waal, author of Mass Starvation and director of the World Peace Foundation.

The World Food Program reports that one in three Gazans goes without food for days, and essential services have collapsed. With over 2 million people compressed into increasingly devastated territory, humanitarian efforts remain fragile. 

United Nations officials and aid organizations have cited looting, overwhelmed convoys, and insufficient supplies as major obstacles, despite Israel’s recent introduction of limited humanitarian pauses and U.S.-backed aid delivery mechanisms.

Israel maintains that it is not obstructing aid, asserting that enough assistance has been allowed in to meet needs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed accusations of deliberate starvation, saying, “otherwise, there would be no Gazans.” President Donald Trump, however, appeared to break ranks with that assessment, remarking Monday, “Those children look very hungry,” in response to recent images from the region.

As the conflict nears its second year, the IPC’s call is unambiguous: Without large-scale intervention, Gaza will face a scale of starvation unseen in the region for decades.