How Israel’s policies created famine in Gaza

The famine takes place in Gaza – a few minutes by car from hundreds of assistance trucks sitting on the ground outside its borders.

How did we get here?

The integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC), supported by the United Nations, is the first world hunger instructor.

Its evaluation that a half -million people – a quarter of the Palestinians in Gaza – suffers from famine is shocking for many reasons.

The principal among them is recognition of the report that this situation is “entirely artificial”, help organizations today accusing Israel of “systematic obstruction” of food entering the Gaza Strip.

The IPC report indicates that he found that people living in the region of the city of Gaza are experiencing famine conditions of “famine, destitution and death”.

He also notes that famine spreads quickly – with the famine which should be in a large part of the rest of Gaza in September, on current trends.

The report has reached its conclusion via three key indicators:

• Famine: At least 1 in 5 households faces an extreme shortage in their food consumption
• Malnutrition: About 1 in 3 or more children are misunderstood
• Mortality: At least 2 people out of 10,000 are dying daily due to pure and simple famine or the combination of malnutrition and disease

When two of these three “thresholds” are reached, the IPC recognizes that famine takes place.

The IPC indicates that the “mortality” indicator is not displayed in the available data due to ventilation of surveillance systems. He thinks most of the un -traumatic deaths are not recorded.

Based on the evidence that exists and expert judgment, the IPC concluded that the “mortality” threshold for famine had been reached.

The report was published while the Gaza Ministry of Health managed by Hamas recorded two new malnutrition deaths, bringing the total number to 273 deaths, including 112 children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied several times that famine takes place in Gaza and said that where there was hunger, it is the fault of the aid agencies and Hamas.

Israel accused international aid agencies such as the UN not to take help while waiting for the Gaza border, pointing hundreds of inactive seated trucks.

After weeks of people by seeing images of hungry children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will have the impression that the signs that a famine was imminent came for a long time.

The Palestinians’ ability to access food was complicated throughout the war of almost two years in Gaza.

Israel has long imposed restrictions on goods entering Gaza, these restrictions increased after the start of the war on October 7, 2023, launched by the mortal attack led by Hamas against Israel.

However, since March 2025, the situation has deteriorated quickly after Israel introduced a total blockage of almost three months on the goods entering Gaza.

Under significant international pressure, Israel began to allow a limited amount of goods in Gaza at the end of May.

It also introduced a new food distribution system exploited by a controversial American group called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace the unused food distribution system.

The GHF has four food distribution sites in militarized areas that Palestinians must travel long distances at risk, replacing the 400 community distribution points under the UN system.

Finding food has become a fatal company for the Palestinians and they regularly told us that they had to choose between famine and death, referring to the daily shots of people trying to obtain help on the GHF distribution sites.

The United Nations recorded the murder of at least 994 Palestinians near the GHF sites, since the end of May, some of the 1,760 killed trying to access the help.

The UN says that the majority killed was shot down by Israeli troops, something corroborated by eyewitnesses to whom we spoke and doctors in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations.

As part of this system, supervised by Israel, famine in Gaza has developed.

While the pressure continued to grow on Israel to allow more food, at the end of July, it began to allow more trucks to help Gaza every day and to introduce “tactical breaks” in the fighting to allow more convoys to help yourself through the territory.

More aid has entered in recent weeks and the astronomical prices of certain goods on the markets have somewhat reduced – although for many Palestinians, prohibitives. Sometimes the price of flour has reached more than $ 85 for a kilo, although this figure has started to reduce.

The UN and the aid organizations say that despite Israel, which is loosening some of its food restrictions in the Gaza Strip, it always imposes important obstacles and obstructions to be able to collect and distribute aid.

The organizations say that what is necessary are 600 trucks per day bringing goods to Gaza so that people meet their basic needs – currently no more than half of this.

Israel has also started to allow for aid, something criticized as ineffective, dangerous and, ultimately, the distraction of humanitarian organizations.

The accusation of Israel that Hamas is responsible for the hunger crisis has also been criticized. Multiple reports, including an internal report of the US government, have revealed that there is no evidence of systematic embezzlement of Hamas aid.

There is indeed a widespread looting of trucks entering Gaza – but help agencies say that most looting are crowds of desperate Palestinians and certain organized groups trying to make a resale benefit.

In the end, assistance agencies have been repeated for months that to avoid famine and famine, Gaza must be flooded with aid entering by the road and currently Israel still imposes restrictions.

A number of representatives of the Israeli government have today rejected the IPC report.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the IPC of having published a “tailor -made report to adapt the false Hamas campaign”.

The Israeli army organization called COGAT (the coordinator of government activities in the territories), which is responsible for the management of the transition to Gaza, described the IPC report “False and biased report, based on partial data from the terrorist organization of Hamas”.

Among other criticisms, Israel affirms that the IPC “has changed its own world standard”, which has half a threshold of those who are confronted with famine from 30% to 15% as well as “completely ignoring its second mortality rate criterion”.

The IPC rejected the accusations and said that it had used long -standing established standards that have been used before in similar situations.

The accusation of Israel that the IPC used “Hamas data” seems to refer to the reference that certain reports on malnutrition in Gaza come from the Ministry of Health managed by Hamas.

However, the data from the ministry on deaths and injuries were largely considered reliable throughout the war.

The responses to the report of the United Nations agencies and international leaders were strong.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that Israel, as an occupying power, “has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty to guarantee the food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity”.

UN humanitarian leader Tom Fletcher said that famine was the direct result of Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of Gaza.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary of Foreign Affairs David Lammy said: “The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid to Gaza caused this artificial disaster. It is moral outrage.”

Friday, the head of the United Nations Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that it was “a war crime to use famine as a method of war, and that the resulting deaths can also constitute the war crime to volunteer”.

This week has authorized the call for tens of thousands of reservist soldiers to conduct its controversial invasion and its occupation of Gaza City, the region where the IPC has declared famine.

Netanyahu says that a takeover is the best option to defeat Hamas, put an end to war and return the Israeli Gaza hostages.

The invasion would force around a million Palestinians living in Gaza City and the areas around it. Israel has already told doctors and help agencies to prepare to make plans to evacuate the region.

A joint declaration of a number of United Nations organizations, including UNICEF, World Food Program and the World Health Organization, have been alarmed about the planned offensive, saying that “this would still have devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.

“Many people – especially sick and poorly fed children, the elderly and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.”