UN declares first ever famine in the Middle East

The United Nations (UN) and relevant international organizations have officially declared widespread famine in the Gaza Strip, in a first for the Middle East.

The UN says famine is now in Gaza

In a joint statement issued in Geneva, the World Health Organization, the United Nations (UN) Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirmed that more than half a million Palestinians in Gaza are stuck in conditions of “complete famine,” noting that the number of people suffering from food shortages has tripled in recent months.

The four organizations called on Israel to ensure unimpeded access to food and medical supplies, warning that the continuation of the current situation threatens widespread deaths from hunger and malnutrition, and called for an immediate ceasefire as a condition for saving civilians.

In parallel, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global observatory monitoring hunger conditions, confirmed that famine is affecting the entire Gaza Strip, where more than half a million people are facing hunger, destitution, and death, warning that acute malnutrition will rapidly worsen until mid-2026.

In this context, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported this morning the death of an infant in Khan Yunis due to malnutrition, bringing the death toll from starvation to 272, including 113 children.

Israel’s deliberate famine in Gaza

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described what is happening in Gaza as a “man-made disaster,” stressing that the continued deprivation of civilians of food and medicine requires those responsible to be held accountable, and emphasizing that a ceasefire is an urgent humanitarian necessity.

For his part, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that the famine in Gaza is “deliberate” and a direct result of Israel’s months-long blockade on food and basic supplies. He added that the declaration of famine in Gaza City is “worrying but not surprising,” stressing that it can be stopped by ending the aggression and opening the crossings to aid.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk affirmed that the famine in Gaza is a direct result of the Israeli government’s actions, warning that deaths caused by starvation could amount to “a war crime of intentional killing.”

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that famine could have been avoided had it not been for the deliberate obstruction of aid, explaining that the relief distribution system in the Strip had been completely dismantled.

International positions and warnings

The German Foreign Ministry, for its part, issued a statement warning of a worsening crisis and calling on Israel to allow immediate and adequate humanitarian access.

This announcement comes months after Israel reneged on the ceasefire agreement last March, embarking on a policy of systematic starvation by restricting humanitarian aid, before restricting its entry since May through the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” under US supervision.

According to local reports, occupation forces and foreign contractors working with the foundation have committed repeated massacres around aid distribution points, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians and the injury of around 15,000 others, in one of the most horrific examples of siege and mass starvation.

Featured image via the Canary