Famine confirmed in Gaza City, UN-backed initiative says

Parts of Gaza are experiencing famine, according to a Friday report by a United Nations-backed initiative, which added it is expected to expand.

During nearly two years of war, Israel has at times restricted or cut off the entry of aid to the ravaged enclave.

While some people have died of starvation and hunger, others have been killed trying to receive aid at distribution sites run by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought in place to replace a UN system long criticized by Israel.

The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said famine was confirmed in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, the site of a major new Israeli offensive.

It added that “malnutrition threatens the lives of 132,000 children under five through June 2026, including 41,000 severe cases, doubling May’s numbers.”

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli agency tasked with distributing aid into Gaza, rejected the IPC report ahead of its release, saying it “relies on partial, biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas.”

COGAT said that the IPC’s “one-sided approach completely disregards the extensive humanitarian efforts undertaken in Gaza,” adding that the report ignored information provided to its authors by Israel.

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