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Famine is now unfolding in Gaza, the leading global authority on food crises said on Tuesday, predicting "widespread death" without immediate action.
"The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," said the alert by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths. Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip."
The IPC alert falls short of a formal famine declaration, and the monitor said it would conduct further analysis "without delay".
It follows an outcry over photos of emaciated children in Gaza and reports of dozens of hunger-related deaths after nearly 22 months of the Israel-Hamas war.
The global pressure led Israel over the weekend to announce measures, including daily humanitarian pauses in fighting in parts of Gaza and airdrops.
The UN and Palestinians on the ground say little has changed, and desperate crowds continue to overwhelm and unload delivery trucks before they reach their destinations.
Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have "dramatically worsened" the situation, including “increasingly stringent blockades” by Israel, according to the IPC.
Starvation, malnutrition and death
An area is classified as in famine when at least 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, more than 30% of children under 5 are acutely malnourished, and two people or four children per 10,000 are dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
The IPC has only declared famine a handful of times — in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and parts of Sudan’s western Darfur region last year.
The monitor's latest alert said famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of Gaza, and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City.
Essential health and other services have collapsed in the war-torn Palestinian enclave, where more than 2 million people remain.
Hospitals report a rapid increase in hunger-related deaths in children under 5. One in three people is going without food for days at a time, according to the UN World Food Programme.
"Immediate action must be taken to end the hostilities and allow unimpeded, large-scale, life-saving humanitarian response. This is the only path to stopping further deaths and catastrophic human suffering," the IPC alert said.
The IPC's Famine Review Committee, which independently analyses and verifies the monitor's findings, supported the latest alert for Gaza on Tuesday.
"Although the extreme lack of humanitarian access hinders comprehensive data collection, it is clear from available evidence that starvation, malnutrition, and mortality are rapidly accelerating," it said.
Israeli measures criticised
Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war. In March, it cut off the entry of all goods, including fuel, food and medicine, in a bid to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages it took during the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of using humanitarian aid as a means of war profiteering and further strengthening itself, which the militant group denies.
Those measures were eased in May, but Israel also pushed ahead with a new US-backed aid delivery system that has been hindered by chaos and violence.
The traditional, UN-led humanitarian providers say deliveries have been hampered by Israeli military restrictions and incidents of looting, while people crowd around entering convoys.
The IPC alert said 88% of Gaza is within militarised areas or under evacuation orders.
"People's access to food across Gaza is now alarmingly erratic and extremely perilous," it said.
While Israel has said there's no limit on how many aid trucks can enter Gaza, aid groups say the latest humanitarian measures are insufficient to tackle the worsening starvation.
In a statement on Monday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called the new airdrops ineffective and dangerous, saying that they deliver less aid than trucks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said no one is starving in Gaza and that enough aid has been supplied during the war, "otherwise, there would be no Gazans". The army on Monday criticised what it calls "false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza".
However, Israel's closest ally now appears to disagree.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump contradicted Israel's stance by saying that there was "real starvation" in Gaza.
Speaking during a visit to Scotland, Trump said the US would set up food centres without any fences or boundaries, and also suggested that Israel could improve aid access.
Separately on Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll from Israel's war in Gaza had risen to more than 60,000 Palestinians. Its figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military stated nearly 900 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.
