KEY POINTS
- Israel’s offensive has killed 62,263 Palestinians and injured 157,365 since October 2023.
- At least 273 people, including 112 children, have died from hunger.
- UN officially declared famine in Gaza, calling it “entirely man-made”.
- Israel rejected the UN findings as “Hamas lies”, insisting “there is no famine in Gaza”.
- Over 500,000 people face catastrophic hunger in the Gaza Strip.
- UN, ICRC and UK condemned the crisis, warning famine deaths could amount to war crimes.
GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 71 people, including 24 people seeking aid, were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said on Friday as the United Nations officially declared a famine in the Palestinian territory.
The health ministry said that two people died from starvation during the same period, bringing the total number of hunger-related deaths in Gaza to 273, including 112 children.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign has killed 62,263 Palestinians and wounded 157,365, according to the ministry.
The statement also said 2,060 people have been killed while attempting to collect aid since 27 May, when Israel introduced a new distribution mechanism through the US-based Global Hunger Foundation (GHF). More than 15,197 people have been injured in such incidents.
UN declares first ever famine in Middle East
The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first such recognition in the Middle East. Experts said around 500,000 people face “catastrophic” hunger in the besieged Palestinian territory.
“It is a famine: the Gaza famine,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, in Geneva. He blamed Israel for the crisis, accusing it of the “systematic obstruction” of humanitarian aid.
Israel rejected the claim. The foreign ministry said the UN-backed assessment was “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests”, insisting “there is no famine in Gaza”.
The declaration was made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-mandated coalition of experts. It confirmed famine conditions in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City, as of 15 August.
The IPC defines famine as when at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished, and at least two in every 10,000 people die daily from hunger or related disease.
‘Man-made catastrophe’
The IPC report said famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made”, driven by intensified fighting in July, mass displacement since March and Israel’s restrictions on aid.
“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 report stated.
The report projected that famine would expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September, potentially affecting 641,000 people.
Speaking in Geneva, Fletcher said the famine should “haunt us all”. “It is a famine we could have prevented if we had been allowed. Food is stacked at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel,” he said.
International reactions
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Hamas, and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza.
“We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity,” he warned.
Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, said the famine was the “direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government” and warned that deaths from starvation could amount to war crimes.
“It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare,” he said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross described the famine as “devastating and entirely foreseeable”, reminding Israel of its obligations under international law as the occupying power.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the famine a “moral outrage” and “wholly preventable”. He said Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza had “caused this man-made catastrophe”.
Humanitarian conditions
According to UNICEF, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished in July — a six-fold increase since January.
“Children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat, babies dying from hunger and preventable disease — the signs were unmistakable,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said.
The IPC said 98 percent of Gaza’s cropland had been destroyed or rendered inaccessible, livestock had been decimated, and fishing was banned. Access to safe water and medical services has collapsed, worsening the crisis.
Many families in Gaza City have been reduced to begging or scavenging for food, according to the IPC report.
The IPC reported that 28 per cent of respondents admitted to begging, 15 per cent to scavenging from rubbish, and nearly 40 per cent to collecting rubbish to sell in order to buy food.
Israel’s response
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the IPC report as “an outright lie”. He insisted that “Israel does not have a policy of starvation”, pointing to aid deliveries permitted during the conflict.
Defence Minister Yoav Katz warned that Gaza City would be destroyed unless Hamas agreed to disarm and release all hostages.
“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he said, referencing cities already devastated in earlier offensives.
Israeli media also reported that the government is considering cutting water supplies to northern Gaza while diverting pipelines to the south, as part of plans to push civilians further south.
Calls for immediate action
The IPC’s Famine Review Committee urged an “immediate, at-scale response” to reverse the crisis.
“The time for debate has passed. Any further delay — even by days — will result in an unacceptable escalation of famine-related deaths,” it said.
Hamas welcomed the UN declaration, calling it “important, even if very late”, and demanded the opening of all border crossings for unrestricted aid deliveries.
“The confirmation of famine proves the genocidal policies of blockade and systematic starvation against our people,” the group said in a statement.
