Casablanca – The United Nations on Friday formally declared famine in Gaza, marking the first-ever famine officially declared in the Middle East.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global initiative monitoring hunger worldwide, has confirmed that famine is projected to spread to central and southern Gaza by the end of September.
According to the IPC’s latest report released on Friday, famine has taken hold in the Gaza Governorate, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians reside.
After nearly 22 months of Israel’s genocidal campaign, more than half a million people are already facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), characterized by starvation, acute malnutrition, and mortality.
Another 1.07 million people are classified under Emergency levels (IPC Phase 4), while 396,000 remain in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).
The IPC warned that between mid-August and the end of September, famine is likely to expand to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the South.
“This is a race against time. Famine must be stopped at all costs,” the IPC said, stressing that acute malnutrition is expected to worsen rapidly.
Jeanette Bailey, child nutrition lead at the International Rescue Committee, described the unfolding tragedy as “the worst possible humanitarian catastrophe that we can even measure,” warning of a rise in deaths among children and vulnerable women.
Israel has rejected IPC findings, denying that widespread malnutrition exists in Gaza, while it also continues to restrict aid flows into the territory.
With the humanitarian situation worsening by the day, aid agencies warn of mass deaths unless urgent and unrestricted humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza.
