UN-Backed Report Confirms ‘Man-Made’ Famine In Gaza

 

Parts of Gaza are now officially experiencing a “man-made” famine, according to a United Nations-backed report released Friday, which warned that conditions will worsen after months of relentless conflict.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed famine in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City — now also the focus of a major Israeli offensive.

“This famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed,” the report said. “The time for debate and hesitation has passed. Starvation is present and rapidly spreading. An immediate, large-scale response is needed.”

The IPC called for an urgent ceasefire, warning that without unrestricted humanitarian access across the Gaza Strip, “avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.”

Rising Humanitarian Toll

Israel has repeatedly restricted or cut off the entry of aid throughout the nearly two-year war, worsening shortages of food, medicine, and fuel. Some Gazans have died of starvation, while others have been killed trying to reach aid distribution sites run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization backed by the United States and Israel that replaced a UN-led system long criticized by Israeli officials.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee dismissed the IPC’s findings, accusing the UN of corruption and incompetence. Israel’s COGAT agency, which oversees aid distribution, rejected the report before its release, calling it biased and reliant on “partial” data from Hamas. Aid agencies, the UN, and eyewitness accounts from Gaza, however, paint a starkly different picture of widespread hunger and deteriorating conditions.

Global Outcry

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the famine as “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself,” stressing Israel’s obligations under international law to ensure food and medical supplies reach civilians.

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, urged governments to absorb the IPC report fully: “Read it in sorrow and anger, not as words and numbers but names and lives. This is irrefutable testimony — it is famine, the Gaza famine. A famine we could have prevented if aid had been allowed to flow.”

Amnesty International condemned the situation as evidence of states failing to pressure Israel to end what it called “genocide” in Gaza. International organizations including WHO, FAO, WFP, and UNICEF echoed the call to stop famine “at all costs,” warning that continued military escalation in Gaza City will worsen the crisis.

Children at Greatest Risk

The IPC report warned that malnutrition now threatens the lives of 132,000 children under five, including 41,000 severe cases — a figure that has doubled since May. Since the conflict began, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died from malnutrition-related causes, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The report noted that this is the first time famine has been officially declared in the Middle East. Previous determinations by the IPC were in Somalia (2011), South Sudan (2017 and 2020), and Sudan’s Darfur region (2023).

Voices from Gaza

Residents of Gaza City, many displaced from other parts of the enclave, said the famine designation merely confirmed what they had been enduring for months.

“This classification comes at the right time to show the world the magnitude of the catastrophe,” said journalist Ahed Ferwana. “The strip has been suffering from starvation due to Israeli aggression and the closure of border crossings.”

Displaced mother Bisan Gazal described how her family sometimes eats just one meal a day, and other days goes without food entirely. “Sometimes we find nothing to eat. Our children fall asleep in tears,” she said.

Another resident, Tawfeeq Abu Rajad, said prices of basic goods are soaring and protein has virtually disappeared from the market. “The IPC designation is accurate,” he said. “We hope the international community will finally put an end to this famine.”