Gaza Faces Famine Crisis Amidst War
JERUSALEM – A dire situation is unfolding in parts of Gaza, as a report released on Friday by a United Nations-backed initiative has officially declared a state of famine, with fears that it will only worsen.
For nearly two years, Israel has imposed restrictions on aid entering the besieged enclave, leading to devastating consequences.
Tragically, some individuals have succumbed to starvation and hunger, while others have lost their lives while attempting to access aid at distribution sites managed by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the US and Israel. This foundation was established to replace a UN system that had long been criticized by Israel.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report revealed that famine has been confirmed in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, a focal point of a recent major Israeli offensive.
The report highlighted that “malnutrition poses a threat to the lives of 132,000 children under the age of five through June 2026, with 41,000 severe cases, marking a doubling from May’s figures.”
Despite these alarming findings, the Israeli agency responsible for aid distribution in Gaza, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), dismissed the IPC report prior to its publication, denouncing it as relying on “partial, biased data and superficial information from Hamas.”
COGAT asserted that the report failed to acknowledge the extensive humanitarian efforts undertaken in Gaza and ignored information provided by Israel. The agency emphasized that over 100,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the conflict began, delivering essential supplies such as food, medical resources, fuel, and shelter materials.
However, aid organizations, the UN, and harrowing accounts and images coming out of Gaza present a starkly different narrative.
US President Donald Trump recently acknowledged the presence of “real starvation” in Gaza, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that there is no famine in the region.
Tom Fletcher, the UN emergency relief coordinator, urged global attention to the IPC report, stating, “Read it with sorrow and anger, seeing names and lives, not just words and numbers. Understand that this is undeniable evidence of a famine, the Gaza famine, a crisis that could have been averted if access was granted. Yet, food piles up at borders due to systematic obstruction by Israel.”
Media outlets, including CNN, have extensively covered the hunger and starvation crisis in Gaza.
Just last month, CNN reported on the tragic death of 4-year-old Razan Abu Zaher in central Gaza due to hunger-related complications, with her emaciated body laid out for the world to see.
Tragically, two more deaths linked to starvation were reported by the health ministry on Thursday, bringing the total number of fatalities due to malnutrition to 271, including 112 children.
According to the IPC system, which utilizes a five-phase scale to gauge food insecurity severity, a famine can only be declared if specific criteria are met.
These conditions include at least 20% of households experiencing an extreme food shortage, 30% or more of children facing acute malnutrition, and a daily death rate of at least 2 in every 10,000 individuals due to starvation or malnutrition-related diseases. – CNN
