UN confirms man-made famine in Gaza

A UN-backed panel has confirmed that famine is now unfolding in Gaza, describing the catastrophe as entirely man-made and a direct result of “Israel’s” 22-month assault and siege on the Strip. The declaration comes at the same time Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved plans to invade Gaza City, underlining “Israel’s” continued escalation despite warnings of mass civilian suffering.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) announced on Friday that  famine had already taken hold in the Gaza City governorate. Without a ceasefire and a dramatic increase in aid, it warned the disaster could spread to two additional southern governorates in the coming weeks. Conditions in northern Gaza, it added, were “similar or worse,” though a formal declaration there was blocked by the difficulty of gathering evidence under Israeli restrictions.

Hunger Used as a Weapon

The IPC stressed that famine in Gaza is “entirely man-made.” UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher condemned “Israel’s” deliberate obstruction of aid, declaring: “It could have been prevented if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food, in a fertile land.”

This marks only the fifth time the IPC has declared famine anywhere in the world. Already, Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported over 270 deaths from hunger and malnutrition, the majority of them children, with aid agencies warning that the real toll is far higher and accelerating rapidly.

He added: “It is a famine that we repeatedly warned of, but that the international media has not been allowed in [to Gaza] to cover. It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war.”

‘Israel’ Denies Responsibility

“Israel” rejected the findings, with its foreign ministry dismissing the IPC’s work as a “‘tailor-made’ fabricated report to fit Hamas’s fake campaign.” It claimed the document relied on “Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests.”

Cogat, the Israeli body controlling aid access, insisted that “Israel” had increased deliveries and accused the report of overlooking Israeli data. A senior Cogat official went as far as to deny that there were food shortages or “even pockets of starvation” inside Gaza, a claim at odds with the testimonies of international relief groups.

A Manufactured Humanitarian Collapse

Aid organizations maintain that the volume of supplies entering Gaza remains a fraction of what is required to sustain its 2.1 million people. After imposing a total siege from March to May, “Israel” dismantled the UN-led system for food distribution and replaced it with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial private mechanism.

This system has not only failed to meet the population’s needs but has also been marked by violence. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces have killed over 1,300 Palestinians since May as they attempted to access food at distribution points, with some estimates placing the toll closer to 2,000 deaths. These killings reflect a dual catastrophe: Palestinians are dying both of starvation and while trying to secure the very aid that could save their lives.