UN declares famine in Gaza, first ever in Middle East

The IPC panel Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency coordinator Tom Fletcher, said, “This is a famine,” he said.

He blamed Israel and blamed the “systematic obstacle” of the delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory destroyed by the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Gaza in Gaza,” he insisted, the unbearable report “open lie” hit.

The evaluation of the famine was conducted by the Integrated Food Safety Stage Classification Initiative (IPC), a monitor coalition that the UN assigned to warn the upcoming crises.

The famine describes the famine as 20 percent of the households have excessive food deficiency; 30 percent of children under five years of age are acutely malnourished; And at least two out of every 10,000 people die of open hunger or malnutrition and illness per day.

UN agencies have warned that the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza for a long time will increase Israel’s attack against Hamas.

Rome-based IPC, “August 15, 2025 on the famine (IPC phase 5) -Makul evidence-Gazze Governorship confirmed,” he said.

The UN estimates that about one million people are currently living in the Gaza Governorate.

“More than half a million people in the Gaza Strip face hunger, poverty and death.” He said.

The famine predicted to spread to the governors of al-Balah and Khan Yunis until the end of September, and the number of hunger people is expected to rise to 641,000.

“A famine in the Middle East region was officially confirmed for the first time in the Middle East region.”

A spokesman told AFP, a famine was reflected in Yemen in 2018, but was not officially confirmed despite the humanitarian crisis in the country.

‘Mücukta for all of us’

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The IPC said that the famine in Gaza, the sharp rise of the conflict in July, that people have been from a large place since mid -March, and that it was “completely human -making” that restricted access to food.

In early March, Israel completely banned from Gaza before allowing very limited quantities to enter at the end of May, which led to serious problems of food, medicine and fuel.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Fletcher said that famine should “disturb us all”.

“It is a famine that we could prevent if it was allowed.

“Using hunger as a method of war is a war crime,” the UN Chief of Rights Volker Turk said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres immediately called for a full human access to the ceasefire and Gaza: “We cannot allow this situation to be unpunished.”

The international Red Cross described the declaration of famine as “destructive and completely predictable”.

“In accordance with international human laws, Israel should ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza as an occupying force.” He said.

‘Very weak to cry’

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According to the UN agencies, only in July, more than 12,000 children have been defined as acute-malnutrored-fed-six-fold increase since January.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, “Signs were clear: Children with wasted bodies, very weak, hunger and preventive illness for crying or eating babies.” He said.

The IPC said that the local food system has collapsed, 98 percent of the estimated in the Gaza Strip was damaged, unaccessible or both collapsed. There is no animal husbandry and fishing was banned.

Gathering information in Gaza is extremely difficult.

The IPC said that the conditions in the North Gaza Governorate in the north of Gaza City may be worse, but did not have enough data.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that a “great flow of aid” has entered the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, and that the writers of Israeli Defense Cogat accused the authors of Cogat of relying on partial data.

However, Jean-Martin Bauer, the Food Safety Analysis Director of the UN World Food Program, said IPC is the “gold standard” for such assessments.