The UN has confirmed a man-made famine in Gaza.
Over 640,000 people expected to face catastrophic food insecurity by the end of September.
The crisis, attributed to Israeli policies, has led to severe malnutrition, especially among children.
UN officials urge immediate humanitarian access and a ceasefire to prevent further devastation.
More than half a million people in Gaza are now trapped in famine conditions, facing starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a United Nations-backed food security report released on August 22, 2025.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis found that famine conditions in Gaza Governorate are projected to spread to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks. By the end of September, more than 640,000 people are expected to face "catastrophic" levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5), with a further 1.14 million in Phase 4 and another 396,000 in Phase 3.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the findings "a man-made disaster, a moral indictment — and a failure of humanity itself," stressing that famine "is not about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival."
Guterres reminded Israel of its legal duties as the occupying power. "As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law — including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population," he said. "Israel's denial of its duties cannot continue. No more excuses. The time for action is not tomorrow — it is now."
UN human rights chief Volker Türk described the famine as the "direct result" of Israeli Government policies and warned that starvation as a method of warfare may constitute a war crime. "It is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing," he said, urging immediate steps to allow sufficient humanitarian assistance into the enclave.
Tom Fletcher, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva that the famine could have been prevented "if we had been allowed". He said food stocks were "stacked up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel," calling it "a famine within a few hundred metres of food, in a fertile land".
"This is a 21st-century famine watched over by drones and the most advanced military technology in history," Fletcher said. "It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war. It is the world's famine – a famine that will and must haunt us all."
UN agencies again stressed the urgent need for full and immediate humanitarian access, warning that hundreds of thousands are going days without food. Malnutrition among children is accelerating "at a catastrophic pace," they said, with July recording more than 12,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition. This is the highest monthly figure ever, six times higher than at the start of 2025.
UN agencies operating in Gaza and the Secretary-General called for an immediate ceasefire to allow unimpeded humanitarian relief and the release of all hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas and other groups. Agencies also warned that intensified military action in Gaza City could further devastate civilians, including sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities who may be unable to evacuate.
The IPC noted that this is the first officially confirmed famine in West Asia since its analyses began. It comes amid widespread destruction of agriculture, with an estimated 98 per cent of cropland damaged or inaccessible, and nine out of ten people repeatedly displaced from their homes. Since May, the number of children at severe risk of death from malnutrition by mid-2026 has tripled, from 14,100 to 43,400.
Although aid deliveries increased slightly since July, the UN said they remain vastly insufficient and inconsistent compared to the scale of need.