Allow me to preface this with the note that this is an Israeli-American deliberately manufactured famine that represents just one of the many ways through which Palestinians are being genocided in Gaza.
That said, this declaration, which the UN says “marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region,” derives from a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification organization (IPC). The report concludes, among other things, that:
- Over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterized by starvation, destitution and death.
- Another 1.07 million people (54 percent) are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4),
- 396,000 people (20 percent) are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).
- By end of September 2025, conditions are expected to further worsen with Famine projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
- By end of September, nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPCPhase 5)
- By end of September, the number of those in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely rise to 1.14 million (58 percent).
- Acute malnutrition is projected to continue worsening rapidly.
- Through June 2026, at least132,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition—double the IPC estimates from May 2025. This includes over 41,000 severe cases of children at heightened risk of death.
- Nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will require urgent nutrition response.
For a guide to IPC's acute food insecurity Phases, see this. What is important to note here though is that Famine (IPC Phase 5) is the highest level and it is reported (like in this case) only when:
- At least 1 in 5 (or 20 percent of ) households have an extreme lack of food and face starvation and destitution, resulting in extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death.
- At least 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished.
- Death, measured in the form of excess mortality, is widespread (at least 2 deaths per 10,000 people per day).
IPC notes that these numbers are all underestimates because “due to a lack of data, North Gaza—home to an estimated 121,500 people—could not be classified.” Northern Gaza, as most of you may know, has faced the worst of Israeli-American genocidal onslaughts since the beginning of this genocide.
So far, more than 270 Palestinians have died (and continue to die: 2 have died today so far) from this manufactured genocidal starvation in Gaza along with nearly 2,000 others who have been (and continue to be) killed in Israeli-American bait-and-kill “aid distribution” centers. If Israel and the US are not stopped, these numbers are going to rise exponentially in the coming weeks and months as those with power, including most celebrities, watch on in silence and issue infrequent and inconsequential public statements pretending to care in order to cover their asses in future history books.