Gaza is facing its darkest hour. For the first time in history, famine has been officially confirmed in the besieged territory, with more than half a million people already starving and preventable deaths mounting every day. United Nations agencies have warned that without an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access, thousands more — especially children — will perish.
A new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released on Thursday revealed that famine conditions in Gaza Governorate are now spreading towards Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis. By the end of September, over 640,000 people will face catastrophic food insecurity — IPC Phase 5, the most severe category — while more than 1.5 million others will remain in crisis or emergency conditions.
The report paints a horrifying picture: families going days without food, parents skipping meals to feed their children, and malnourished babies too weak to cry. In July alone, more than 12,000 children were found acutely malnourished — the highest monthly figure ever recorded in Gaza — with nearly one in four suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger.
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said the signs had been clear for months. “Children with wasted bodies, too weak to eat; babies dying of hunger and preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed them. There is no time to lose. Without a ceasefire and full access, famine will spread and more children will die.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, UNICEF and WHO jointly appealed for an immediate ceasefire, stressing that famine must be stopped “at all costs.” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it “a man-made famine,” warning that even mild illnesses like diarrhoea are turning fatal for malnourished children.
Nearly two years of conflict, repeated displacements, destroyed cropland, and crippling restrictions on aid have decimated Gaza’s food system. Ninety-eight percent of farmland is now damaged or inaccessible, nine in ten people have been displaced, and local food production has collapsed. Food prices are soaring, while fuel, water and medical supplies have nearly run out.
FAO chief QU Dongyu said the world could no longer stand by: “Access to food is not a privilege — it is a basic human right. People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives every day.”
As famine grips Gaza and hunger spreads, UN agencies insist the only hope is an immediate ceasefire, unblocked aid corridors, and large-scale delivery of food, medicine and clean water. Without it, they warn, Gaza’s children will continue to die in silence.