According to a global hunger monitor supported by the UN, Gaza City and its surrounding areas are currently experiencing famine, which is likely to spread throughout the region.
On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system said 514, 000 people, close to a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza, are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641, 000 by the end of September.
This comes after 22 months of conflict, during which Israeli forces have occupied the Strip, obliterated infrastructure, impeded aid arrival, and targeted and killed desperate Palestinians seeking food.
The global group has predicted that by the end of the month, famine conditions would be present in the central and southern regions of Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis, making this the first time the IPC has documented famine outside of Africa.
Here’s how global leaders and NGOs are reacting to the IPC report:
Nations Unified
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred to the famine in Gaza as a “man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself,” according to Guterres.
“Famine is not only about food, it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival”, Guterres said. “People are starving,” he said. Children are euthanizing. And those with the duty to act are failing”.
The UN chief noted that Israel, the occupying power, has “unequivocal obligations” under international law, including the obligation to ensure that Gaza’s population receives food and medical supplies.
UNRWA’s head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, has stated that “months of warnings have fallen on deaf ears,” but that it is “time for political will” to put an end to the famine in Gaza City and the surrounding areas.
“We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity”, he said. No more excuses,” Not tomorrow, but right now is the moment to take action.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine has been “openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war” and called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “end the retribution” and open Gaza’s crossings for unrestricted access.
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the UN-backed declaration that Gaza had a famine outbreak.
In a statement from his office, Netanyahu said, “The IPC report is an outright lie.
He added that “Israel does not have a policy of starvation”, citing the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during the war.
In May, the controversial Israel- and US-backed GHF took over all food aid distribution in Gaza. More than 2, 000 aid seekers have been killed since then, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Hamas
Palestinian group Hamas called for an immediate end to the war and the lifting of the Israeli siege on the territory after the UN declared a famine in parts of Gaza.
The group demanded that crossings be opened “without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water, and fuel,” in a statement released online.
The group continued, claiming that Israel had used starvation as a “tool of war” in response to the UN’s declaration that it had confirmed the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority
The IPC report “closed the door to interpretation and speculative speculation regarding the occurrence of famine,” according to the Foreign Ministry of the PA, which governs portions of the occupied West Bank under Israeli control.
In a statement posted on social media, it stated that “it has confirmed that the mobilisation of international influence in all its forms and dimensions is necessary to put an end to famine and the aggression against our people.”
It also urged the UN Security Council and the international community “to address with utmost seriousness and concern” the contents of the report.
This indicates that the Israeli occupation is beginning to destroy all aspects of human life in the Gaza Strip and is using starvation as a means of fighting Palestinians.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia expressed concern after the IPC’s famine report and said that the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza “will remain a stain on the international community”.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that the situation in Gaza is “a direct result of the lack of deterrence and accountability mechanisms” for the Israeli occupation’s repeated crimes.
It urged the UN Security Council to “quickly intervene immediately to put an end to the famine and put an end to Israel’s genocide and crimes against Palestine.”
Kuwait
Kuwait has denounced the “policy of starvation, oppression, and displacement” pursued by Israel against civilians in Gaza.
Israel’s policy is “in flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law,” according to the nation’s foreign ministry in a statement. It also violates UN Security Council resolutions and international humanitarian law.
Kuwait also demanded that the UN Security Council and the international community “allow the immediate flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, put an end to the brotherly Palestinian people, and hold the occupying power accountable for the crimes it commits against humanity.”
Gulf Cooperation Council
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, stressed the need for immediate action by the international community to pressure Israel to open the crossings and allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza without restrictions.
Albudaiwi noted in a statement on Friday that the IPC’s official declaration of famine in the Gaza Strip, which has reached catastrophic levels, “clearly reflects the dangerous, inhumane, and illegal starvation policies pursued by the Israeli occupation forces against the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
United Kingdom
After the IPC declared the famine in Gaza, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described it as a “moral outrage” and a “man-made catastrophe.”
The famine’s confirmation in Gaza City and the surrounding neighborhood is “completely preventable” and “utterly horrifying,” Lammy said in a statement.
“The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is wrong in terms of morality.
Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Israel must meet the basic needs of Gaza’s civilians for food, water and medicine, following Friday’s “devastating and entirely foreseeable” IPC report.
Israel, the occupying power, “must use all the resources it has available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population of Gaza are met,” the ICRC stated in a statement. It added that the famine declaration “must serve as a catalyst for immediate and concrete action.”
Oxfam
Oxfam demanded that aid be immediately allowed into the area after the IPC’s declaration of a famine in Gaza City confirms what the charity and its partners have been seeing for months.
“The famine in Gaza is entirely driven by Israel’s near-total blockade on food and vital aid, the horrifying consequence of Israel’s violence, and its use of starvation as a weapon of war”, said Helen Stawski, policy lead at Oxfam GB, the global poverty-focused NGO’s British arm.
Israel has continued to deprive Palestinians of food despite warnings that a famine was about to break out in July, rejecting almost every request made by long-established humanitarian organizations, preventing them from delivering essential food and aid that could have reduced hunger, malnutrition, and disease.
She claimed that warehouses outside of Gaza held more than $3.3 million worth of aid, including high-calorie food packages.
“Israeli authorities have rejected it all, at a time when it is needed more than ever”, she said.
Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief, a humanitarian organization, called on the IPC to “bring shame on the entire world” as it confirmed the Gaza famine.
“Every day our team there sees more people starving to death and children turning into living skeletons before our eyes”, the NGO said in a statement.
“Many more will die unless the world stops now,” he says.
CAIR
The US Congress and President Donald Trump must now put an end to Washington’s unwavering support for Israel, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
“This famine is not a natural disaster – it is the intended outcome of Israel’s brutal blockade, targeted destruction of food systems, and systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid. International aid organizations have been raising the alarm for months, according to CAIR on X.
Mercy Corps
The chief executive officer of the US-based aid group, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, called the UN announcement of a famine in Gaza City “absolutely horrifying, yet not surprising”.
“This is the direct result of months of deliberate aid restrictions, the destruction of Gaza’s food, health, and water systems, and relentless bombardment,” the statement read. She claimed that this is a man-made catastrophe that can be avoided without ceasing to be.
McKenna said Mercy Corps staff were facing dire conditions.
