Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza | FAO News

Joint FAO/UNICEF/WHO/WFP News Release

Rome/Geneva/New York – More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution & preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today. Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah & Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) & the World Health Organization (WHO) have collectively & consistently highlighted the extreme urgency for an immediate & full-scale humanitarian response given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition & plummeting levels of food consumption, with hundreds of thousands of people going days without anything to eat.

The agencies reinforced that famine must be stopped at all costs. An immediate ceasefire & end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives. The agencies are also gravely concerned about the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City & any escalation in the conflict, as it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist. Many people – especially sick & malnourished children, older people & people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.

By the end of September, more than 640,000 people will face Catastrophic levels of food insecurity – classified as IPC Phase 5 – across the Gaza Strip. An additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) & a further 396,000 people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) conditions. Conditions in North Gaza are estimated to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza City. However, limited data prevented an IPC classification, highlighting the urgent need for access to assess & assist. Rafah was not analyzed given indications that it is largely depopulated.

Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition & starvation-related deaths – have been breached. The latest analysis now affirms on the basis of reasonable evidence that these criteria have been met.

Almost two years of conflict, repeated displacement, & severe restrictions on humanitarian access, compounded by repeated interruptions & impediments to access to food, water, medical aid, support to agriculture, livestock & fisheries & the collapse of health, sanitation, & market systems, have pushed people into starvation.

Access to food in Gaza remains severely constrained. In July, the number of households reporting very severe hunger doubled across the territory compared to May & more than tripled in Gaza City. More than one in three people (39 percent) indicated they were going days at a time without eating, & adults regularly skip meals to feed their children.

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is accelerating at a catastrophic pace. In July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished – the highest monthly figure ever recorded & a six-fold increase since the start of the year. Nearly one in four of these children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form with both short & long-term impacts.

Since the last IPC Analysis in May, the number of children expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by the end of June 2026 has tripled from 14,100 to 43,400. Similarly, for pregnant & breastfeeding women, the number of estimated cases has tripled from 17,000 in May to 55,000 women expected to be suffering from perilous levels of malnutrition by mid-2026. The impact is visible: one in five babies are born prematurely or underweight.

The new assessment reports the most severe deterioration since the IPC began analyzing acute food insecurity & acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, & it marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.

Since July, food & aid supplies entering Gaza increased slightly but remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent & inaccessible compared to the need.

Meanwhile, approximately 98 percent of cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible – decimating the agriculture sector & local food production – & nine of ten people have been serially displaced from homes. Cash is critically scarce, aid operations remain severely disrupted, with most UN trucks looted amid growing desperation. Food prices are extremely high & there is not enough fuel & water to cook & medicines & medical supplies.

Gaza’s health system has severely deteriorated, access to safe drinking water & sanitation services has been drastically reduced, while multi-drug resistant infections are surging & levels of morbidity – including diarrhoea, fever, acute respiratory & skin infections – are alarmingly high among children.

To enable lifesaving humanitarian operations, the U.N. agencies emphasized the importance of an immediate & sustained ceasefire to stop the killing, allow for the safe release of hostages & permit unimpeded access for a mass influx of assistance to reach people across Gaza. They stressed the urgent need for greater amounts of food aid, along with dramatically improved delivery, distribution & accessibility, as well as shelter, fuel, cooking gas & food production inputs. They emphasized that it is critical to support the rehabilitation of the health system, maintain & revive essential health services, including primary health care, & ensure sustained delivery of health supplies into & across Gaza. The restoration of commercial flows at scale, market systems, essential services, & local food production is also vital if the worst outcomes of the famine are to be avoided.

“People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger & malnutrition are claiming lives every day, & the destruction of cropland, livestock, greenhouses, fishery & food production systems has made the situation even more dire,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Our priority must now be safe & sustained access for large-scale food assistance. Access to food is not a privilege – it is a basic human right.”

“Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, & proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access & a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”

“Famine is now a grim reality for children in Gaza Governorate, & a looming threat in Deir al-Balah & Khan Younis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “As we have repeatedly warned, the signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat; babies dying from hunger & preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed their children. There is no time to lose. Without an immediate ceasefire & full humanitarian access, famine will spread, & more children will die. Children on the brink of starvation need the special therapeutic feeding that UNICEF provides.”

“A ceasefire is an absolute & moral imperative now,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The world has waited too long, watching tragic & unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common & usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry & exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food & medicines to save lives & begin the process of reversing malnutrition. Hospitals must be protected so that they can continue treating patients. Aid blockages must end, & peace must be restored, so that healing can begin.”
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Notes for editors:

Access the IPC alert here.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative 21-partner initiative – made up of UN agencies & international NGOs – for improving food security & nutrition analysis & decision-making. By using the IPC classification & analytical approach, Governments, UN Agencies, NGOs, civil society & other relevant actors, work together to determine the severity & magnitude of acute & chronic food insecurity, & acute malnutrition situations in a country, according to internationally-recognized scientific standards. Find out more here.