Famine has been confirmed for the first time in an area of the embattled Gaza Strip, according to the international authority responsible for monitoring food security.
In a report released on Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said it has "reasonable evidence" that famine has been occurring in Gaza Governorate, an administrative region which includes Gaza City, since August 15.
"After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death," the authority said.
Some 132,000 children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2026 - double the IPC estimate from May - with 41,000 of them considered particularly vulnerable.
The IPC also projected that famine will expand to two other central governorates, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, by the end of September.
Famine is formally declared when three criteria are met: At least 20% of households face extreme food shortages, at least 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and at least two adults or four children per 10,000 inhabitants die every day from hunger or from a combination of malnutrition and disease.
"To prevent further loss of life and famine from spreading further, an immediate ceasefire and putting an end to the conflict is critical," the IPC said.
Israel rejects report as 'biased'
The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the IPC's assessment, saying: "There is no famine in Gaza."
The Israeli authority responsible for affairs in the Palestinian Territories, COGAT, also categorically rejected the report, writing on X: "Previous reports and assessments by the IPC have repeatedly been proven inaccurate and do not reflect the reality on the ground."
COGAT accused the IPC of "deliberately" failing to take into account in the report "data that was provided to its authors in a meeting held prior to its publication," though it did not specify the exact nature of the data.
Head of COGAT, Ghassan Allian, said: "The IPC report is based on partial and unreliable sources, many of them affiliated with Hamas, and blatantly ignores the facts and the extensive humanitarian efforts led by the State of Israel and its international partners."
"Instead of providing a professional, neutral, and responsible assessment, the report adopts a biased approach riddled with severe methodological flaws, thereby undermining its credibility and the trust the international community is able to place in it," he was quoted as saying.
Israeli troops are currently advancing on Gaza City after the government approved plans to capture the metropolis of some 1 million in a bid to destroy the remainders of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas.
The new offensive has sparked fears of further suffering for the civilian population, which has been largely lacking access to basic necessities including food since Israel imposed a near-total aid blockade on the territory earlier this year.
Last month, Israel partially lifted its blockade, allowing limited amounts of aid to trickle into the Gaza Strip, though aid organizations have said the amount is nowhere nearly enough to prevent famine.
Four famines around world in last 15 years
The IPC initiative, founded in 2004, includes nearly two dozen UN and aid organizations. It classifies food security according to five levels, with famine at level five being the most severe.
Until now, the entire Gaza Strip was classified as a level four "emergency."
Four famines have been confirmed by the IPC in the last 15 years: in Somalia in 2011, in South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and most recently in Sudan in 2024.
The World Health Organization noted that Friday's classification marks the first time that famine has been declared in a Middle Eastern country.
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