UN Declares First-Ever Famine in West Asia as Gaza Faces ‘Catastrophic’ Hunger

The United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza on August 22, marking the first such declaration in West Asia. According to UN experts, more than 500,000 Palestinians are enduring “catastrophic” hunger, with conditions expected to worsen in the coming weeks.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the famine as “entirely preventable,” accusing Israel of systematically obstructing food deliveries into the besieged territory. “It is a famine that we could have prevented if we had been allowed. Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel,” Fletcher said in Geneva.

Israel swiftly rejected the declaration. Its Foreign Ministry dismissed the findings of the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) panel, claiming the report was “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests.”

What did the IPC say about Gaza’s famine?

The IPC, tasked with assessing global hunger, confirmed that as of August 15, famine conditions (Phase 5) existed in Gaza City, which accounts for about one-fifth of the Gaza Strip. The panel projected that famine will spread to Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis by late September, potentially engulfing nearly two-thirds of the territory.

The UN report warned that nearly 641,000 people, around one-third of Gaza’s population, could face starvation by the end of September. “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,” it said.

Experts highlighted the collapse of Gaza’s food system, with 98 percent of cropland damaged or inaccessible, livestock wiped out, and fishing completely banned. Severe shortages of medicine, fuel, and clean water have also intensified the crisis, alongside the near-collapse of Gaza’s health system.

What is cited as the cause for the Gaza famine?

The famine declaration follows Israel’s decision in March to block all aid deliveries into Gaza, later allowing only limited supplies in May. Humanitarian agencies argue that the restrictions have driven one of the fastest deteriorations of food security recorded since the IPC began monitoring Gaza.

Famine classification requires three conditions: at least 20% of households facing extreme food shortages, 30% of children under five acutely malnourished, and two deaths per 10,000 people per day due to starvation or disease.

The conflict, triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, has since left at least 62,192 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.