UN declares famine in Gaza
A famine has been officially declared in Gaza City and nearby neighbourhoods, according to a UN-supported body.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) - a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition - has confirmed just four famines since it was established in 2004, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
These were in Somalia in 2011, and in Sudan in 2017, 2020, and 2024.
The confirmation of famine in Gaza City is the IPC's first outside of Africa.
"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 said, adding that more than a million other people face a severe level of food insecurity.
Over the next month conditions are also expected to worsen, with the famine projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, the report said.
Nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions while acute malnutrition is projected to continue getting worse rapidly.
Over the next year, the report said at least 132,000 children will suffer from acute malnutrition - double the organisation's estimates from May 2024.
Volker Turk, the UN Human Rights chief, said the famine is the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli government.
But Israel's foreign ministry has criticised the report, and said there is no famine in Gaza: "Over 100,000 trucks of aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war, and in recent weeks a massive influx of aid has flooded the Strip with staple foods and caused a sharp decline in food prices, which have plummeted in the markets."
The IPC had previously warned famine was imminent in parts of Gaza, but had stopped short of a formal declaration.
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