The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-affiliated global initiative, is expected to formally declare a famine in Gaza City in a position paper submitted to the UN Security Council.
This marks a critical escalation in the humanitarian crisis, as Gaza faces catastrophic levels of hunger, displacement, and medical collapse under Israel’s ongoing siege and military campaign.
According to the latest assessments, Gaza City now meets all three criteria required for a formal famine classification: widespread food deprivation, acute malnutrition, and rising hunger-related mortality.
Over half a million residents are experiencing extreme food insecurity, with children suffering from severe nutritional deficiencies and deaths from starvation climbing daily.
As of August 21, Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded at least 271 deaths from starvation, including 112 children. These figures reflect only confirmed cases; thousands more are feared to be trapped under rubble or dying in inaccessible areas.
A new Amnesty International report accuses Israel of deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war – a claim Israel denies, even as doctors on the ground describe malnourished children, mothers unable to breastfeed, and babies dying within days of birth. pic.twitter.com/3kwbCQd0BP
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 21, 2025
The famine has spread beyond Gaza City into central and southern governorates, with aid agencies warning that the entire Strip is on the brink of systemic collapse.
The crisis is compounded by Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid and its repeated targeting of civilians attempting to access food.
Since late May, more than 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, including children, elderly, and displaced families waiting near food convoys and distribution points. In one week alone, 325 people were shot dead while trying to reach flour trucks in central Gaza.
Medical conditions have deteriorated in parallel. Gaza’s hospitals, operating at over 200% capacity, report a sharp rise in deaths due to lack of medicine and treatment.
The World Health Organization and Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirm that 28 children die every day from a combination of malnutrition and untreated illnesses.
Patients with chronic conditions—such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease—are dying in large numbers due to the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system and the total blockade on medical supplies.
“That’s what they do to the people of Gaza, reducing them to scurrying rats.”
U.S. scholar Norman Finkelstein is the son of Holocaust survivors. He called out the horrific conditions for Palestinians at “aid” sites and says Israel’s goal is “to make Gaza unlivable.” pic.twitter.com/3spJT7qxIh
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 21, 2025
The IPC declaration is expected to intensify international pressure on Israel, which continues to deny the existence of famine and restrict aid access. Humanitarian organizations have described the situation as a “deliberately engineered disaster,” accusing Israel of using starvation and medical deprivation as weapons of war.
Israel has now killed at least 62,192 Palestinians, including over 18,800 children, and injured 157,114, the majority of whom are women and children, since October 7, 2023, amid warnings that no place is safe for children in the enclave with relentless bombardment, forced displacement, and starvation.
Thousands more remain missing, many believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and buried in destroyed alleyways and streets that remain inaccessible to rescue teams across the devastated Gaza Strip.
Internal Israeli intelligence data reveals that at least 83% of Palestinians killed in the Gaza offensive were civilians, contradicting official Israeli claims of a 1:1 or 2:1 civilian-to-militant ratio.
