Gaza on the Brink of Famine: UN Agencies Sound Alarm

Strategic Insights -

The Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine, with food consumption and nutrition indicators reaching their worst levels since the conflict began. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Alert highlights that two out of the three famine thresholds have been breached, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warning that time is running out to mount a full-scale humanitarian response. The conflict, the collapse of essential services, and severe limitations on humanitarian assistance have led to catastrophic food security conditions for hundreds of thousands of people.

Key Takeaways:

  • Over 500,000 people, nearly a quarter of Gaza's population, are enduring famine-like conditions, while the remaining population is facing emergency levels of hunger.
  • More than one in three people (39 per cent) are going days at a time without eating, with children under five facing the highest risk of malnutrition.
  • Acute malnutrition among children under five has quadrupled in two months, reaching 16.5 per cent in Gaza City, signaling a critical deterioration in nutritional status and a sharp rise in the risk of death from hunger and malnutrition.
  • The dying of infants and young children due to malnutrition is a major concern, with over 320,000 children at risk of acute malnutrition, including thousands suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
  • Only 15 per cent of essential nutrition treatment services are currently functional, increasing the risk of malnutrition-related deaths among infants and young children.
  • Humanitarian aid entering Gaza is barely a trickle of what a population of over two million people needs every month, with over 62,000 tons of life-saving aid required every month to cover basic humanitarian food and nutrition assistance needs.

Statistics:

  • Over 500,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions and emergency levels of hunger (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).
  • 39 per cent of the population in Gaza are going days at a time without eating (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).
  • Acute malnutrition among children under five has reached 16.5 per cent in Gaza City (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).
  • Over 320,000 children in Gaza are at risk of acute malnutrition, including thousands suffering from severe acute malnutrition (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).
  • Only 15 per cent of essential nutrition treatment services are currently functional in Gaza (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).
  • Over 62,000 tons of life-saving aid are required every month to cover basic humanitarian food and nutrition assistance needs in Gaza (FAO, WFP, and UNICEF).

Sources:

  • UNICEF (2025). UN Agencies warn key food and nutrition indicators exceed famine thresholds in Gaza. Retrieved from
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (2025). Gaza faces the severe risk of famine as food consumption and nutrition indicators have reached their worst levels since the conflict began.