Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, a UN-backed global hunger monitor said on Friday.
The report by the United Nations’ Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) agency said the Gaza governorate has the highest level of hunger according to the organisation’s index, with half a million people facing “catastrophic humanitarian conditions”.
The IPC also warned these conditions were expected to spread next month to Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Gaza Strip and to Khan Younis in the south.
This is the first time the IPC, which monitors hunger situations worldwide and is considered the accepted global index in the field, has declared mass starvation in Gaza.
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It also marks the first time the IPC has recorded a famine outside Africa.
[ How the IPC global hunger monitor determines famineOpens in new window ]
[ Gaza's children slide towards starvation as emergency treatments dwindleOpens in new window ]
United Nations secretary general António Guterres said the Gaza famine was a “man-made disaster” and that “as an occupying power, Israel has an obligation under international law to ensure food and medical supplies to the population”.
He also said: “We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity.”
The Israeli foreign ministry, in response, denied there was famine in Gaza.
It said the IPC conclusions were “based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests”.
The Israeli Co-ordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), an arm of the defence ministry, said the report relied on “partial, biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas”.
Cogat also criticised the IPC report’s call for a Gaza ceasefire.
“By framing the improvement of the situation and aid delivery as contingent on a ceasefire, the report overlooks the practical mechanisms and Israel’s efforts already in place to ensure assistance reaches those in need and takes an overtly political stance,” it said.
In a statement, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “The withholding of food and water from civilians is collective punishment of the people of Gaza, and a war crime.
“The retention of hostages by Hamas is also a war crime”
Friday’s report came after Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said his cabinet had approved plans for a military takeover of Gaza City, an action that will be preceded by the forced removal of more than 800,000 residents from their homes.
Defence minister Israel Katz said Israel would destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to end the war on Israel’s terms.
“Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” he said.
“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he also said, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed during previous fighting.
Despite the plans for a military escalation, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would send representatives to negotiate for the release of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for an “acceptable” end to the war, now in its 22nd month.
“These two matters – defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages – go hand in hand,” he said.
Israel believes that 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are still alive. Relatives of the hostages have warned that the assault on Gaza City would endanger the lives of the living hostages.
About 60,000 reservists have been called-up for the assault and this figure could rise to 130,000 in the coming months. Troops are already operating in limited areas in and around Gaza city.
The conflict was triggered when 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage in the surprise attack by militants on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, more than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
