Gaza no longer in famine but many still face starvation
There is no longer a famine in Gaza, a global hunger watchdog says, after increased access to humanitarian and commercial food deliveries following a fragile October 10 ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants.
The latest assessment of the Integrated Food Security Stage Classification comes four months after 514,000 people – almost a quarter of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – were reported to be experiencing famine. The IPC warned on Friday that the situation in the region remained critical.
“Under the worst-case scenario, which would include a resumption of hostilities and a halt to humanitarian and commercial inflows, the entire Gaza Strip would be at risk of famine by mid-April 2026. This underlines the serious and ongoing humanitarian crisis,” the IPC report said. he said.
Israel controls all access to the coastal area. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, disputed that there was a famine in Gaza in August. COGAT said 600-800 trucks a day have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began in October, and food accounts for 70 percent of all these supplies.
“The report is based on serious gaps in data collection and sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. It therefore misleads the international community, fuels disinformation and presents an inaccurate portrayal of the reality on the ground,” the IPC said. he said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said much more aid had gone to Gaza than reflected in the report and that food prices there had fallen sharply since July.
Hamas disputes Israel’s aid figures, saying fewer than 600 trucks enter Gaza a day. Aid agencies have repeatedly said much more help is needed to enter the small and crowded area and said Israel was blocking the entry of needed items, which Israel denied.
The IPC said five famines have been confirmed in the past 15 years: in Somalia in 2011, in South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, in Sudan in 2024 and most recently in Gaza in August.
For an area to be classified as famine-prone, at least 20 percent of people must experience extreme food shortages, one in three children must be acutely malnourished, and two in every 10,000 people must die from hunger, malnutrition and disease every day.
“No area is classified in the famine category,” the IPC said of Gaza on Friday.
“The situation remains extremely fragile and depends on continued, expanded and consistent humanitarian and commercial access.”
Even if an area is not classified as famine because these thresholds are not met, the IPC can determine that households are suffering from catastrophic conditions, which it defines as extreme food shortages, hunger, and significantly increased risks of acute malnutrition and death.
The IPC said on Friday that more than 100,000 people were experiencing catastrophic conditions in Gaza but predicted that figure would fall to 1,900 people by April 2026. He said the entire Gaza Strip was classified in the emergency phase, one step below disaster conditions.
“In the next 12 months, approximately 101,000 children aged six to 59 months are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require treatment throughout the Gaza Strip, with more than 31,000 severe cases,” the IPC said. he said.
“During the same period, 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will also face acute malnutrition and need treatment,” he said.
Antoine Renard, the UN World Food Programme’s top official in Gaza and the West Bank, said there were signs of improvement in the dire hunger situation in Gaza.
“The fact that most of the population is eating two meals a day is a clear sign that we are actually reversing somewhat,” he told reporters on Thursday.
But he said providing scale and rapid access to Gaza was a “constant challenge” as humanitarian aid and commercial trucks face congestion at border crossings.
