‘Man-made famine’: UN-backed report warns Gaza faces starvation crisis as aid trucks sit idle

Despite hundreds of aid trucks waiting outside Gaza’s borders, aid groups accuse Israel of “systematic obstruction” in allowing food into the territory.

A UN-backed body has declared that famine is now taking place in Gaza City, warning that the situation will rapidly spread across the territory unless an “immediate, at-scale response” is allowed.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s leading hunger monitor supported by the United Nations, said more than half a million people – a quarter of Gaza’s population – are experiencing “catastrophic” conditions marked by starvation, destitution and death.

For the first time since the war began nearly two years ago, the IPC has formally concluded that famine is unfolding inside Gaza.

‘Entirely man-made’ crisis

The IPC report is stark in its conclusion: Gaza’s famine is “entirely man-made.”

Three key indicators were used: starvation, acute malnutrition among children, and mortality rates. With at least one in three children acutely malnourished, and expert judgement confirming deaths from hunger are far higher than recorded, the report says famine conditions are now undeniable.

BBC reports that Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has so far recorded 273 malnutrition deaths, including 112 children. Aid agencies warn that many more go unreported because monitoring systems have collapsed.

Aid blocked, prices soaring

Despite hundreds of aid trucks waiting outside Gaza’s borders, aid groups accuse Israel of “systematic obstruction” in allowing food into the territory.

Israel has blamed aid agencies and Hamas for the crisis, pointing to looted convoys and idle trucks at border points. But aid agencies and the UN say the bottleneck is Israel’s restrictions, which still cap daily truck entries at fewer than half the 600 needed to meet basic survival needs.

Inside Gaza, food has become impossibly scarce. BBC reporting notes flour at one point hit $85 a kilo, while families say they have not seen fruit or vegetables in months.

A deadly new distribution system

Since March 2025, aid distribution has shifted from 400 UN-run community points to just four militarised sites run by a controversial US group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Palestinians must walk long distances through dangerous areas to reach food, often risking their lives. The UN says at least 994 people have been killed near GHF sites since late May – many shot by Israeli troops, according to eyewitnesses and medics interviewed by the BBC. Israel denies the allegations.

Israel rejects famine report

Israel has rejected the IPC findings outright, calling the report a “false and biased” fabrication based on Hamas-linked data. Its foreign ministry accused the UN of lowering its famine threshold to target Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted: “Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Since the beginning of the war Israel has enabled 2 million tons of aid into Gaza – over one ton per person.”

But UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres countered, saying Israel, as the occupying power, has “unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population.”

International outrage

The famine confirmation has sparked sharp global condemnation.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was “entirely preventable,” calling it the direct result of Israel’s systematic obstruction of aid.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned it is a “war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the situation as a “moral outrage,” accusing Israel of causing the catastrophe by refusing sufficient aid access.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, called it “starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel.”

Invasion looms over Gaza City

Even as famine grips Gaza City, Israel has authorised a new military offensive into the same area. The campaign is expected to displace one million Palestinians, many already too malnourished or sick to flee.

A joint statement by UN agencies including UNICEF and the World Health Organization warned the planned invasion would have “further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.”

The human toll

For many families, the famine has already taken everything.

Reem Tawfiq Khader, 41, told the BBC her five children have not eaten protein in five months. “My youngest child is four years old – he doesn’t know what fruit and vegetables look or taste like.”

Rida Hijjeh, 29, said her daughter Lamia’s weight dropped from 19kg to 10.5kg during the war. Now, she suffers from swelling, thinning hair and nerve problems. “This all happened only because of the famine,” she said.

A failure of humanity

Since October 2023, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 62,122 people have been killed, with 90 percent of homes damaged or destroyed and healthcare, water and sanitation systems collapsing.

Guterres summed up the IPC’s findings with chilling clarity: “Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: famine. This is not a mystery – it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself.”