In First, UN Says Over Half a Million Gazans Suffering From Famine; Netanyahu: 'Outright Lie'
Haaretz
For the first time since the war in Gaza started, the UN food security agency's report found that residents of Gaza City and nearby areas are suffering from the highest level of hunger. Netanyahu rejected the report as a 'modern blood libel' and accused Hamas of 'stealing aid' and staging a 'starvation campaign'
The United Nations' expert body on food security released a report today saying the highest phase of famine has been confirmed in Gaza City.
According to the report, "over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death."
This is the first time that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which monitors hunger levels worldwide and is considered the accepted global index in the field, has declared this level of mass starvation in the Middle East.
The report is based on the combination of three indicators – acute malnutrition, food access and increased mortality – all of which have been met in and around Gaza City.
In a report released late July warning of looming famine, the experts noted that the food accessibility index was already at the famine level, saying the other two criteria had not yet been met.
All three thresholds are expected to be crossed in the rest of the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks, according to the IPC, with over a third of its population expected to face "catastrophic conditions" of mass starvation.
"Any further delay – even by days – will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality," the IPC said in a statement on Friday.
"If an immediate and sustained cease-fire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies, and basic health, nutrition, and WASH services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially."
The IPC has doubled its May estimates for the projected extent of acute malnutrition among children in Gaza. According to the report, at least 132,000 Gazan children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2026.
"This includes over 41,000 severe cases of children at heightened risk of death," it said, adding that "nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will also require urgent nutrition response."
The IPC declared the same level of famine in Sudan last year.
Since the end of last month, amid increasing reports of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel has taken a series of steps to ease the flow of food into the Strip.
However, the transfer of food has often encountered difficulties, including lengthy delays at IDF checkpoints and Israel's demand that all humanitarian organizations re-register in order to transport goods to Gaza.
Defense Minister Israel Katz approved earlier this week a plan to occupy Gaza City, during which its residents are expected to evacuate south.
Despite the difficulties, there has been an increase in the amount of food entering the Gaza Strip, and residents have reported a sharp drop in grocery prices this week. The price of a kilogram of flour has dropped from several hundred shekels last month to about 20 shekels – a price still considered very expensive for large parts of the population.
Despite the drop in food prices, severe food insecurity is already widespread. Those suffering from acute malnutrition, especially children, require close medical care and specialized treatment, which are unavailable in the Gaza Strip. The drop in food prices also does not guarantee it will reach all segments of the population.
"Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine,'" UN Secretary General António Guterres said on X.
"This is not a mystery – it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself," he said, adding that famine "is not only about food" but a "deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the report as a "modern blood libel" and accused Hamas of "stealing aid to finance its war machine" and staging a "starvation campaign."
"The IPC report is an outright lie. Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation," Netanyahu added.
The prime minister also said that the report ignored humanitarian steps taken by Israel to ease conditions and lower food prices.
According to Netanyahu, "Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip" since the start of the war and "prices have plunged because of Israel's surge in humanitarian aid in Gaza."
British Foreign Minister David Lammy responded to the IPC report with a statement saying Israel was refusing "to allow sufficient aid into Gaza" and obstructing the UN and NGOs in administering aid.
"The Government of Israel can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further," Lammy said. "It must immediately and sustainably allow unhindered food, medical supplies, fuel and all types of aid to reach those who so desperately need them."
He added, "We desperately need an immediate cease-fire, to enable aid delivery at maximum speed and at the scale required. This includes halting the military operation in Gaza City which is the epicentre of the famine."
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reposted Netanyahu's social media post attacking the IPC report, saying: "To the uninformed who claim Israel is starving Gaza, get the facts & read the thread below."
According to Huckabee, "Tons of food has gone into Gaza but Hamas savages stole it, ate lots of it to become corpulent, sold it on black market but they didn't give it to the hostages."
'Tailor-made, fabricated report'
Sources familiar with the matter told Haaretz that the new report is causing unease in Jerusalem. Earlier this week, military and government representatives held a meeting to discuss starvation in Gaza.
Among the participants were representatives from the IDF, Netanyahu's office and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
COGAT responded to the IPC report by saying it is "false and relies on partial, biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas, a terrorist organization, often laundered through organizations with vested interests."
The coordinator's office added that "The report chose to ignore the information provided by Israel and preferred to stick with incomplete and misleading information." COGAT also said IPC reports "do not take into account aspects in which Israel operates and puts in significant efforts."
Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the IPC report, saying the organization "has just published a 'tailor-made' fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake campaign."
The IPC has just published a “tailor-made” fabricated report to fit Hamas’s fake campaign.
Unbelievably, the IPC twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel: the IPC changed its own global standard, cutting the 30% threshold…
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) August 22, 2025
In a post on X, the ministry said the IPC "twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel," adding that the "fake" document is "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests."
It continued, saying "there is no famine in Gaza" and adding that "over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war." The ministry cited a "sharp decline in food prices," saying that "the laws of supply and demand don't lie – the IPC does."
For the first time since the war in Gaza started, the UN food security agency's report found that residents of Gaza City and nearby areas are suffering from the highest level of hunger. Netanyahu rejected the report as a 'modern blood libel' and accused Hamas of 'stealing aid' and staging a 'starvation campaign'
The United Nations' expert body on food security released a report today saying the highest phase of famine has been confirmed in Gaza City.
According to the report, "over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death."
This is the first time that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which monitors hunger levels worldwide and is considered the accepted global index in the field, has declared this level of mass starvation in the Middle East.
The report is based on the combination of three indicators – acute malnutrition, food access and increased mortality – all of which have been met in and around Gaza City.
In a report released late July warning of looming famine, the experts noted that the food accessibility index was already at the famine level, saying the other two criteria had not yet been met.
All three thresholds are expected to be crossed in the rest of the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks, according to the IPC, with over a third of its population expected to face "catastrophic conditions" of mass starvation.
"Any further delay – even by days – will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality," the IPC said in a statement on Friday.
"If an immediate and sustained cease-fire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies, and basic health, nutrition, and WASH services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially."
The IPC has doubled its May estimates for the projected extent of acute malnutrition among children in Gaza. According to the report, at least 132,000 Gazan children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2026.
"This includes over 41,000 severe cases of children at heightened risk of death," it said, adding that "nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will also require urgent nutrition response."
The IPC declared the same level of famine in Sudan last year.
Since the end of last month, amid increasing reports of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel has taken a series of steps to ease the flow of food into the Strip.
However, the transfer of food has often encountered difficulties, including lengthy delays at IDF checkpoints and Israel's demand that all humanitarian organizations re-register in order to transport goods to Gaza.
Defense Minister Israel Katz approved earlier this week a plan to occupy Gaza City, during which its residents are expected to evacuate south.
Despite the difficulties, there has been an increase in the amount of food entering the Gaza Strip, and residents have reported a sharp drop in grocery prices this week. The price of a kilogram of flour has dropped from several hundred shekels last month to about 20 shekels – a price still considered very expensive for large parts of the population.
Despite the drop in food prices, severe food insecurity is already widespread. Those suffering from acute malnutrition, especially children, require close medical care and specialized treatment, which are unavailable in the Gaza Strip. The drop in food prices also does not guarantee it will reach all segments of the population.
"Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: 'famine,'" UN Secretary General António Guterres said on X.
"This is not a mystery – it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself," he said, adding that famine "is not only about food" but a "deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the report as a "modern blood libel" and accused Hamas of "stealing aid to finance its war machine" and staging a "starvation campaign."
"The IPC report is an outright lie. Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation," Netanyahu added.
The prime minister also said that the report ignored humanitarian steps taken by Israel to ease conditions and lower food prices.
According to Netanyahu, "Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid to enter the Gaza Strip" since the start of the war and "prices have plunged because of Israel's surge in humanitarian aid in Gaza."
British Foreign Minister David Lammy responded to the IPC report with a statement saying Israel was refusing "to allow sufficient aid into Gaza" and obstructing the UN and NGOs in administering aid.
"The Government of Israel can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further," Lammy said. "It must immediately and sustainably allow unhindered food, medical supplies, fuel and all types of aid to reach those who so desperately need them."
He added, "We desperately need an immediate cease-fire, to enable aid delivery at maximum speed and at the scale required. This includes halting the military operation in Gaza City which is the epicentre of the famine."
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reposted Netanyahu's social media post attacking the IPC report, saying: "To the uninformed who claim Israel is starving Gaza, get the facts & read the thread below."
According to Huckabee, "Tons of food has gone into Gaza but Hamas savages stole it, ate lots of it to become corpulent, sold it on black market but they didn't give it to the hostages."
'Tailor-made, fabricated report'
Sources familiar with the matter told Haaretz that the new report is causing unease in Jerusalem. Earlier this week, military and government representatives held a meeting to discuss starvation in Gaza.
Among the participants were representatives from the IDF, Netanyahu's office and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
COGAT responded to the IPC report by saying it is "false and relies on partial, biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas, a terrorist organization, often laundered through organizations with vested interests."
The coordinator's office added that "The report chose to ignore the information provided by Israel and preferred to stick with incomplete and misleading information." COGAT also said IPC reports "do not take into account aspects in which Israel operates and puts in significant efforts."
Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the IPC report, saying the organization "has just published a 'tailor-made' fabricated report to fit Hamas's fake campaign."
The IPC has just published a “tailor-made” fabricated report to fit Hamas’s fake campaign.
Unbelievably, the IPC twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel: the IPC changed its own global standard, cutting the 30% threshold…
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) August 22, 2025
In a post on X, the ministry said the IPC "twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel," adding that the "fake" document is "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests."
It continued, saying "there is no famine in Gaza" and adding that "over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war." The ministry cited a "sharp decline in food prices," saying that "the laws of supply and demand don't lie – the IPC does."
