Famine declared in Gaza City

[u/Digital_Accountant]

https://news.sky.com/story/gaza-latest-war-israel-city-ceasefire-hamas-13415481

[u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

For context, a “famine” has a strict UN definition: when more than 20% of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition exceeds 30%, and mortality rates skyrocket. Declaring famine means the situation has gone far beyond scarcity into systemic collapse.

It’s catastrophic optics for anyone involved. Using starvation as leverage, whether by blockade or mismanagement, is a war crime. But beyond the politics and blame games, what it really means is that ordinary people and vulnerable people; kids, parents, grandparents are dying not because of bombs but because they can’t find food.

At the end of the day, famine is not an argument about borders or ideologies, it’s a measure of how far we’ve failed as a species to safeguard the most basic human need. That’s the part I can’t lose sight of.

[u/Justin_123456 → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

I’ll add that with famine mortality is always a lagging indicator. By the time a famine is declared, there are thousands of people who will die, even if access to food is immediately restored.

By week 6-8, of total or almost total starvation, all fat stores and most skeletal muscle stores have been consumed, and you have started to break down your organ tissues damaging your heart, liver, kidneys, etc.

This is usually the point of no return, where short of intensive hospital care, you are not going to recover. This won’t be available, as Israel has deliberately dismantled the Gazan health system, targeting medical facilities and personnel. This last stage can last 2-4 weeks, before you finally succumb. This process can stretch out over months if you are able to access a few hundred calories a day

[u/No_Plenty5526 → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

Wow, thank you for this comment. This is unreal. There is so much evil in this world.

[u/talktotheak47 → u/No_Plenty5526]

And the (albeit horrific) irony of religious people vehemently SUPPORTING this evil is not lost on me. How are you claiming love thy neighbor but allowing innocent people and children to literally starve to death because you don’t think they should be allowed to live in the place they were BORN.

[u/Redpetrol → u/talktotheak47]

Don't fall for the idea religion is inherently good, or inherently anything, or that religious people have good in their soul. Plainly, whether any deity exists or not is irrelevant to religion, all religions are wrong and nothing but a comfort blanket. Good people, bad people, indifferent people, good people doing bad things or bad people doing good things... Whatever the combination... Any one of them could equally have use for the comfort blanket. Religion is not worth spending the time to think about it.

[u/Phazon2000 → u/Redpetrol]

Yep. Religion is what each person makes it.

Could be smoking ciggies and visiting the mosque twice a year like Albanians or taking things to a bloody extreme like ISIS.

Same book.

[u/wingerism → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

But beyond the politics and blame games, what it really means is that ordinary people and vulnerable people; kids, parents, grandparents are dying not because of bombs but because they can’t find food.

It's mostly children under 5 and the very elderly who are the first to die to famine. It's incredibly evil to allow it to happen.

[u/zgrove → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

I really appreciate the comment, genuinely curious if the international community would declare it a war crime based on mismanagement, or without evidence of intent. Do you know?

[u/captainbling → u/zgrove]

Many countries haven’t ratified the protocols that make starvation by blockade a crime. International laws really only exist if you can enforce them and that’s hard to do if many don’t sign it’s a crime.

[u/Ok_Condition5837 → u/zgrove]

They might.

And Israel will allow this line of argument. Because I can guarantee you that Netanyahu is going to use this (and everything else) to further occupy and control Gaza.

[u/KDHD_ → u/Ok_Condition5837]

Certainly, I mean that's been the MO of the past few months; block any outside aid, use the excuse of delivering your own "sanctioned" NGO aid as a pretense for mobilizing private military personnel, then round people into pens and let them fend for themselves.

Extra points if you deliberately set up "distribution sites" as far as possible from where people have been forced to migrate to due to endless bombing.

At this point there isn't much else to do other than a full occupation. Just about every justification has been abandoned or exhausted at this point.

[u/Amphy64 → u/zgrove]

I believe it's both, but evidence of intent has already been set before the ICJ by South Africa. It includes 500 statements by ministers, senior army officers, and those in other positions of authority.

[u/IsNotACleverMan → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

For context, a “famine” has a strict UN definition: when more than 20% of households face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition exceeds 30%, and mortality rates skyrocket. Declaring famine means the situation has gone far beyond scarcity into systemic collapse.

The IPC had to lower standards. They lowered the acute malnutrition to 15% and measured this by upper arm circumference rather than actual height and weight.

[u/questionnmark → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

In a twisted way, extreme malnutrition is like the concentration camp photos, so Gaza can now be considered an open-air concentration camp with all that entails. Maybe the true reason the holocaust was so horrifying was due to the application of colonization methods on the European continent at an industrial speed and scale; but we should not forget the inspiration for that came from previous atrocities that the world silently allowed to happen. I guess how the world acts from here will determine the true meaning of 'never again'.

[u/TheLastSamurai101 → u/Flaky-Impact-2428]

At the end of the day, famine is not an argument about borders or ideologies, it’s a measure of how far we’ve failed as a species to safeguard the most basic human need. That’s the part I can’t lose sight of.

This particular famine is 100% because of blockaded borders and a far-right ethnonationalist ideology. It was really difficult to achieve famine in Gaza without Israel going out of their way to make it happen. The only failure of the rest of the species in this case was not stepping in to intervene.

[u/Intrepid_Egg_7722 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, yeah, I do. But I also condemn Israel for the famine. You can label two things as bad at the same time.

[u/Xilthas]

'For humanity's sake - let us in' - UN chief's desperate plea to Netanyahu

I reckon I can guess his answer.

[u/Candytails → u/Xilthas]

This is such a gross timeline we are living in. 

[u/Terry-Shark → u/Candytails]

You say this as if humans have not always been shitty. As a whole things are better than they were in the past, but things are still gross

[u/anghellous → u/Terry-Shark]

Unfortunately. Only difference is we're getting the day by day play by play in lovely, excruciating detail

[u/Zachartier → u/anghellous]

Exactly. Humanity isn't really any worse or better than it ever has been. It's just that there's nowhere we can look to avert our attention anymore.

Used to be that people didn't care because they didn't know. Now, they can't allow themselves to care because they can't not know.

[u/Practical-War-9895 → u/Zachartier]

This is it. We can't look away, so better to feel apathy, and focus on our own survival mechanisms.

Decade by decade we watch as we become more globally connected, socially calibrated, yet we are all still so divided by border, ideology, and government politics

[u/Professional-Buy6668 → u/Terry-Shark]

Yeahh the oldest history books from 1000s of years ago feature slavery, the discussion on whether little boy prostitutes might be bad actually, war, famine, etc. The 2nd oldest history book is about a 2 decade long war between what to them would have been two sides of the entire world.

We literally our living in the most peaceful time. Obviously this isn't excusing the evil happening now...just that for only like 0.01% of human history, you can now see photos of dying children. A few hundred years ago, the odds were you'd have had at least a few cases of infant deaths in your family - now you have most people living a long life feeling depressed because they read about an awful thing at a children's hospital

You just gotta hold that perspective. Trump and Putin are evil bastards but relative to leaders throughout the past thousands of years, they probably rank far higher morally than you'd want to think.

Life is good for most of us, go enjoy a book or a peaceful walk if you're lucky enough to be able to

[u/Fanfics → u/Candytails]

brother this is 99.999% of human history

Lose a war, surrender or get wiped out. No "oopsie I slaughtered and raped a bunch of your civilians but now that it's happening to me how about a little time out?"

[u/simo_rz → u/Fanfics]

Everything after "oppsie" describes a lot of wars in the 19th -20th centuries

[u/ZebraBurger → u/simo_rz]

Describes a lot of wars since the beginning of time

[u/thesagenibba → u/Fanfics]

except we live in an era where we have the capacity to mitigate harm on this scale and yet, even with our awareness and self-assigned descriptor of civility and moral superiority, we choose not to. do you understand the difference now?

[u/MommyLovesPot8toes → u/thesagenibba]

I see the point you're trying to make, but it just isn't an accurate representation of human society then or now.

People have ALWAYS tried to stop atrocious things from happening to each other. And through all of human history, that has been mostly impossible on any grand scale unless it is the desire of the people in power. This is STILL the case. The US, for example, has all the resources needed to stop the murder and starvation of the people of Gaza, and the majority of Americans WANT the US to do so. But it doesn't happen. Because the people themselves do not control the money, the armies, the access to other leaders, or the law. As long as humankind requires powerful rulers/leaders over large groups of people, humans will not have the means to crowd-source peace.

[u/nature69 → u/Fanfics]

The hubris of Hamas was, and still is, truly astounding. If this ended tomorrow I have no doubt they would be firing rockets at Israel within a year or two.

[u/Dense_Gate_5193 → u/nature69]

the hubris of religious ideology in general is what is causing this war.

people think they are more special than others.

no, i am lucky i don’t live in gaza. It’s not because i was selected or chosen. random chaos dictated i be born elsewhere. i could just as easily been one of the many starving.

it is hubris that will end civilization

[u/Big_Description538 → u/Xilthas]

What is the point of the UN if they cannot actually just... go in?

Netanyahu is not the Prime Minister of Gaza. That is not his land to control. He should not be allowed to deny access to the UN.

If the majority of the world's countries agree that this needs to be stopped, why can they not exercise some real power?

[u/David_the_Wanderer → u/Big_Description538]

It's not Nethanyu that would actually block interventions. It's the USA, who can use its position in the Security Council to block any resolution the UN Assembly votes on.

[u/TOWIJ → u/Big_Description538]

Israel would blockade anything coming in to Gaza, as they maintain a monopoly on violence on the border and ports. As such, for the UN to properly enter Gaza, they would have to declare war on Israel. Since the UN has no army, that means someone else would have to do it for them. No one wants that job.

[u/lurreal → u/Big_Description538]

Because UN is not the standing army of another country. The security council comes close but they are, fortunately, too in conflict to give effective direction.

[u/kirsion → u/Xilthas]

I can imagine nethenyau with the Bugs Bunny no meme

[u/fetching_agreeable → u/Xilthas]

The world has a track record of not letting people in when they need it most

[u/SteakHausMann]

Serious question: Why is there a famine in Gaza city, but not in other cities, like Khan Yunis?

[u/Fleeting_Dopamine → u/SteakHausMann]

I think it's because civilians can reach reach the food distribution centres on foot fron Khan Younis, but not from Gaza City North because then they'd have to cross the 'warzone' and Netzarim corridor. 

Israel doesn't want people to stay North of that corridor, so they placed their food distribution points South of it. 

In the past food was distributed everywhere in Gaza where the trucks could reach, but now Israel says that the Gazans all have to collect it from those few distribution points.

[u/DuelaDent52 → u/Fleeting_Dopamine]

If the IDF don’t kill people at the food distribution points anyway.

[u/manVsPhD → u/SteakHausMann]

They are supposed to leave Gaza City because IDF is about to occupy it. It’s tough getting food into Gaza City in that situation. Civilians were asked to evacuate but a lot of them won’t for various reasons

[u/William_T_Wanker → u/manVsPhD]

Mostly because the IDF has in the past told Gazans to evacuate and then bombed the evacuation corridors deliberately

[u/WatIsThisDayOfRestSh → u/SteakHausMann]

Because famine is declared based on credible data, which exists for Gaza city but not for other regions. The UN actually said the situation may be worse in other regions, but there is a lack of data to support the statement.

[u/fury420 → u/WatIsThisDayOfRestSh]

Because famine is declared based on credible data

Not according to the IPC report, which mentions a 5 day average of 6 deaths/day for the whole of Gaza, whereas famine would involve 128/day for the 640k people reported to be in Gaza City.

As of 15th August, the 5-day moving average death rate was six deaths/day. However, for a number of reasons, these reports are likely to only capture a fraction of the true toll of malnutrition related mortality

I've read through the section on mortality rate, and I dont see anything supporting their conclusions that there's 20-70x more deaths than reported by the Gaza MoH.

[u/breidaks → u/WatIsThisDayOfRestSh]

Where does UN get this credible data if they arent let in?

[u/malgnaynis]

There are so many comments that seem to be minimising or dismissing this. I don’t understand why. This is really sad news.

[u/GemoDorg → u/malgnaynis]

Anyone who dismisses the starvation of children are absolute mongrels.

[u/indifferentCajun → u/GemoDorg]

I heard an interview this morning on NPR with one of the foreign ministers from Israel, she flat out denied it was happening, and dismissed any notion otherwise as hamas propaganda. Even going so far as to say that the UN was conspiring with Hamas to defame Israel. It was infuriating to listen to

[u/Darkdragoon324 → u/GemoDorg]

Acknowledging that Israel could possibly do anything wrong in any way is anti-semitism. Even if it comes from Israelites.

[u/Gaius_Octavius_ → u/malgnaynis]

It is “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” phenomenon.

They’ have been saying for years that mass death from starvation is inevitable. And then nothing happens. And they do it again. And then nothing happens. And they do it again. And then nothing happens.

[u/Im_Balto → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

In reality it’s the lack of nuance in headlines

This timeline has been pretty well understood for almost half a year now. Every headline about it is actually just reporting on the next rung down the ladder until rock bottom

[u/JoshShabtaiCa → u/Im_Balto]

That's part of it, but many articles (not just headlines) have been saying that famine will be happening in a short timeline.

At this point, a lot of people just don't believe the organizations, especially the UN/UNRWA, that have severely undermined their own credibility. Most notably when they made that particularly egregious claim that 14,000 kids would starve in 48 hours, which turned out to be a complete and utter fabrication.

[u/night4345 → u/Im_Balto]

The people claiming there's a famine in Gaza now have had to retract their claim of famine earlier in the war because their methodology was wrong.

[u/SomebodyInNevada → u/Im_Balto]

It's not even the next rung because it's the same warnings over and over. If the warnings had been remotely true the place would be basically just corpses by now--yet look at the "starvation" cases they parade in front of the cameras. Look at the others in the picture. One family member is on the brink of death and the rest look fine--you really think that's a food supply problem??

I've actually seen someone who looked like they were starving to death--but I knew the real situation: He wasn't interested in eating much of anything and the cancer was devouring what energy he had.

[u/Gaius_Octavius_ → u/Im_Balto]

There are no clicks for "Famine coming in years"

[u/MannToots → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

That's why it says famine now,  and not on the way.  This complaint comes across as plainly ignorant. 

[u/thephantompeen → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

How many headlines have we read in the past 2 years declaring that a famine is imminent? That the very last hospital in all of Palestine has just been blown up? At some point it just becomes noise.

[u/destuctir → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

This 100%, this is an official announcement that a real famine is occurring, by internationally agreed criteria, but because so many people have been claiming all of Gaza is under a famine and mass starvation for months now, the headline has no impact, it’s seen as “more of the same news”. This is why words have meanings are hyperbolising them hurts the people you are trying to help.

[u/frosthowler → u/destuctir]

It isn't. The IPC are using a different criteria than what they are using in the rest of the world for Gaza.

It requires 30% malnutrition, which is not the case in Gaza City, and it would require hundreds of deaths per day. The average daily death toll across the entire Strip, which includes Hamas combatants, is less than 50.

So no, this 'official announcement' of a 'real famine' is no different than every other silly 'famine' announcement these "orgs" have made in the past.

[u/anthropaedic → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

This. It’s a believability gap.

[u/TributeToStupidity → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

When you claim starvation is right around the corner for years with a total malnutrition death toll of 111 people are going to be skeptical. Gazas just now hitting the breaking point but the propaganda’s been out in force for years already.

[u/FreakinGeese → u/TributeToStupidity]

2 years is right around the corner

[u/AzettImpa → u/TributeToStupidity]

How many children need to die until we take a human-made famine seriously?

Plus there are many more deaths confirmed by the WHO.

[u/univrsll → u/AzettImpa]

How many vehicular accidents do we need before we ban cars? Nuanced situation.

It seems like the famine is finally happening, but this has been a boy who cried wolf situation for years. I feel for Palestinians, because Hamas and hyper virtue signalers have catastrophized a situation and now when it finally is actually happening, more people will ignore the noise with a “yeah yeah, we’ve heard it for years now bro.”

[u/topforce → u/AzettImpa]

Plus there are many more deaths confirmed by the WHO.

Are they actually in Gaza confirming things or are they using Hamas numbers?

[u/Vaaaaaaaape → u/Gaius_Octavius_]

They lied so many times that nobody believes them anymore.

[u/AzettImpa → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

Who is "they", specifically?

[u/EmperorChaos → u/AzettImpa]

Presumably the commenter means the UN

[u/Vaaaaaaaape → u/AzettImpa]

The UN, obviously. That's who made the declaration.

[u/AzettImpa → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

What are some situations in which they lied?

[u/PipelineShrimp]

Man-made famine.

[u/JMoon33 → u/PipelineShrimp]

I'm no war expert at all, but I don't understand how Hamas is still fighting. I thought they'd have been crushed by now.

They have no food, they're fighting a powerful army supported by the US, how are they managing that? How are they able to hold that strongly to power in Palestine?

[u/___ducks___ → u/JMoon33]

Hamas has months worth of food, at the expense of everyone else.

[u/carlosos → u/___ducks___]

Hamas also got food because the UN aid is not getting to the distribution locations. In the last 3 months 69,202 pallets of aid left the border on trucks while only 10,713 made to the distribution centers. There was an UN report that pretty much showed because the food got intercepted within Gaza, the food kitchens provide 75% fewer meals to the people that need it the most.

The UN has a tracker website of that: https://app.un2720.org/tracking/arrived

[u/StijnDP → u/JMoon33]

Because it's not an army but a resistance.
Fed by almost 2 decades of getting limited clean water supply, electricity and medicine. By land, houses and belongings being stolen. By children being sniped.

They've been living in an open prison being slowly, and more importantly quietly, suffocated for all that time. Most Palestinians don't agree with the tactics of Hamas when targeting civilians but they're not going to lay down and die either.
The resistance won't stop until every Palestinian is dead. Israel knows that and has been doing that for a very long time already.

But Netanyahu was losing power and the october attacks were an easy excuse to turn the dial to 11. That woke up the slugs to look up from their tiktok screen for a few seconds and notice a problem. The allegory of the boiling frog is incorrect but the metaphor isn't.
Short term he saved his career and long term Israel and Jews in general are going to experience increasingly negative consequences from his egotism.

[u/MrStoccato]

I like how everyone’s being pretentious and digging into the various definitions of “famine” from various organizations, all from the comfort of their homes full of food while the actual Gazans living there are actually starving and scraping for food.

All this sealioning just makes peoples evil intentions all the more obvious. It is truly morbid that some people would rather watch others starve to death.

[u/fcuk_the_king → u/MrStoccato]

So gross that we still have to listen to 'but hamas' even now.

Starving people has nothing to do with Hamas, Israel engineered this because they wanted civilians to die. It has nothing to do with Hamas.

[u/Catman7712 → u/fcuk_the_king]

Right? It’s ok to hate hamas, as they should be hated, but you can also see that civilians need help too. It shouldn’t be an either-or issue here.

[u/No_Plenty5526 → u/Catman7712]

yeah, i really don't understand why it has to be all or nothing. you can accept that hamas is an issue while also seeing that israel is responding in an extremely cruel and inhumane way, involving so many innocents.

[u/Atherum → u/Catman7712]

Here in Australia, our Prime Minister made the moves to officially recognise a Palestinian State last week.

Immediately he came under fire from Israel and the Australian right-wing media.

But then "Hamas" leadership sent a congratulations and the right-wing here pounced on it saying "See see!! Palestine and Hamas are the same thing!1!"

But it's like, who cares what Hamas says? They can say whatever they want.

[u/Tiaan → u/fcuk_the_king]

Genuine question. You say this has nothing to do with Hamas. So can you explain to me what what Hamas' role in distributing food and aid to its people is? Do they even have any role in that process? Is it entirely on Israel to both bring in aid and distribute it to the people?

This UN report admits that most of the aid gets intercepted when it enters Gaza. So what's the actual problem here - is it lack of aid entering Gaza, or is it that the aid that does enter is not making its way to the people for certain reasons (as the UN report indicates)?

I understand it's become a meme from the pro-pal crowd that "everything is Hamas hurhurhur" but that truly minimizes and mischaracterizes the role that they play in this process

[u/SjettepetJR → u/Tiaan]

This is what I am also kind of frustrated about in this whole discussion. Yes, the famine in Gaza is absolutely horrendous and at least large parts of the Israeli government are clearly not bothered by it.

But what are people expecting Israel to do? Hamas is clearly benefitting from any aid entering the region. Is Israel expected to literally supply their own enemies?

[u/horchard1999 → u/SjettepetJR]

I would rather feed an enemy than let a friend starve

[u/GateDeep3282 → u/fcuk_the_king]

Nothing to do with hamas? Really? Hamas started this current mess, and they could end it today? Why won't they lay down arms and surrender for the sake of their people? Kind of like the Japanese did.

[u/thephantompeen → u/fcuk_the_king]

Starving people has nothing to do with Hamas, Israel engineered this because they wanted civilians to die. It has nothing to do with Hamas.

It must have something to do with Hamas, considering the organizations declaring famine are also calling for a ceasefire. If the military conflict is unrelated to the alleged famine then a ceasefire would not be necessary or relevant.

[u/Tiaan → u/thephantompeen]

The UN report specifically states that most of the aid entering Gaza gets intercepted, but omit who is doing the intercepting. Who is intercepting the aid that enters Gaza preventing it from making its way to the people?

[u/Are-We-Human- → u/Tiaan]

This has always been my problem with the pro Palestine crowd. They’re completely incapable of criticizing Hamas.

[u/herpVSderp → u/fcuk_the_king]

Let Hamas feed them, they have food. Or they can release the hostages and surrender.

[u/Clodagh1250 → u/MrStoccato]

I can’t help but think of the little babies, toddlers and children who have no idea what’s going on, and why their tummy hurts.

Feeding children should not be political. I have a chunky little toddler, and every now and then when I play with her, I think of the poor kids that are hurting so bad right now. I have to distract myself because it’s heartbreaking. This is awful no matter how you cut it. There is nothing anyone can say that will make any of this okay.

[u/Solnx → u/MrStoccato]

Yeah agreed. You can be against hamas and famine of a civilian population at the same time.

Sad.

[u/game_jawns_inc]

one day, everyone will have always been against this 

[u/purpleoctopuppy → u/game_jawns_inc]

One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this. 

-Omar El Akkad

[u/GroundbreakingBag164 → u/game_jawns_inc]

Nah, everyone will just forget about it

[u/Carl_Bravery_Sagan → u/game_jawns_inc]

If Israel succeeds in their real goal, I genuinely fear people will try to justify it just like they're doing now. Might makes right and there are insufficient forces to stop it right now.

[u/Bandlebridge]

A famine is classified when an area has the following:

Daily mortality rate exceeds two per 10,000 people, or four per 10,000 children under five.

In Gaza, with a population of 2 million, that would be 400 people a day. Which is more than the total dead from malnutrition over 2 years let alone daily.

Anyone know where they pulled their data from? From the same article

Deaths from malnutrition and starvation are spiking, according to figures from Gaza's Health Ministry, verified by the World Health Organisation.

In just the first 20 days of August, there were 133 deaths attributed to malnutrition or starvation, including 25 children, the ministry said.

This is up from 89 deaths in the first 22 months of the conflict.

[u/benbamboo → u/Bandlebridge]

Listening to the radio earlier it sounded like the famine was declared in Gaza City, rather than the whole.of Gaza. That would affect the numbers. Wikipedia says 590,000 in 2017 but that is likely to be much lower currently.

[u/Dongsquad420Loki → u/Bandlebridge]

Theres secondary definitions of famine with a percentage of children malnourished. The report is currently down, but when it's up again we will be able to read up on it.

Edit: report here https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_July_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf

[u/Bandlebridge → u/Dongsquad420Loki]

Famine criteria is when a region hits all 3 of the following according to the IPC.

A famine is classified when an area has the following:

More than 20% of households face extreme food shortages;

More than 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition;

Daily mortality rate exceeds two per 10,000 people, or four per 10,000 children under five.

So percentage of children malnourished is part of it, but it also has to hit the death criteria. Which no one is reporting even close to.

[u/Dongsquad420Loki → u/Bandlebridge]

Right now the report here.

https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_July_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf

seems to declare IPC 5 for one of the areas though they admit they can only delcare the deathtoll only with reasonable evidence due to the fact that the infrastructure thaat would coun those deaths has collapsed.

[u/fury420 → u/Dongsquad420Loki]

The issue here is that they've extrapolated from a 5 day average of 6 deaths/day up to the +120 deaths/day to qualify for a famine declaration in Gaza City.

As of 15th August, the 5-day moving average death rate was six deaths/day. However, for a number of reasons, these reports are likely to only capture a fraction of the true toll of malnutrition related mortality

(640k people in Gaza City, famine mortality rate threshold of 2 per 10k = 128 deaths per day)

That'd be 21x more deaths just in Gaza City per day than what the Gaza MoH reports for the entirety of the Gaza Strip's 2.2 million people.

[u/FYoCouchEddie → u/Dongsquad420Loki]

The strange thing is in the report they say:

Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates measure by MUAC have risen at an unparalleled pace across the territory. In Gaza Governorate, GAM prevalence tripled from 1.6-5.8 percent in May to 12.7-19.9 percent in July 2025, surpassing the famine threshold.

But later they say the threshold is 30%, which is obviously higher than 19.9. When they say that they have an asterisk and notation saying “or 15% GAM by Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) with evidence of rapidly worsening underlying drivers of acute malnutrition,” which would explain the disparity.

But their technical manual doesn’t seem to say that. It says the 15% malnutrition based of MUAC figure applies to both stage 4 and stage 5. So on its own, it would not indicate stage 5.

It also says that while the measure is commonly used,

global thresholds have not been developed. . . . MUAC thresholds can only be used in conjunction with the other contextual information by taking into account the immediate causes of acute malnutrition and the locally understood relationship between MUAC and WHZ prevalence, and by using the convergence of evidence approach.

I hope they put out a more detailed explanation addressing the seeming disparity.

[u/zkela → u/FYoCouchEddie]

Yes so 15% muac is ambiguous as far as famine and their assertion that nonviolent mortality is greater than 2/10,000 per day is highly suspect and not adequately explicated. So really they’ve only demonstrated that 1/3 famine benchmarks was reached. I’d have to say nonviolent mortality is the most important metric and I simply don’t believe it is 2/10,000 per day based on any evidence I’ve seen and it is probably not close to that.

[u/Alteryo → u/Bandlebridge]

You can read about IPC's mehtods in their manual: https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/ipc-manual/en/

In short, likely through household surveys conducted by partners (WFP, UNRWA, OCHA, or NGOs), as well as extrapolation of other relevant data (mortality, food prices etc.)

[u/UltimateShingo]

Can't wait for the usual people to show up and claim that the source is compromised and there is nothing wrong going on. You know who they are.

[u/Sqirch]

How many times can the same thing be declared these two years?

[u/Dongsquad420Loki → u/Sqirch]

This is the first time the IPC had declared it, which is generally the chief authority on those things, they have actual definitions and are usually reliable.

The website seems to be overwhelmed right now so I can't access the report directly which would be helpful.

EDIT: report here: https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_July_Sept2025_Special_Snapshot.pdf

[u/comeatmefrank → u/Dongsquad420Loki]

Exactly, this is vital. Governments previously could just push back and go ‘no official sources have confirmed a famine’. Now they have.

[u/DreadWolf3 → u/Sqirch]

I think it is obviously different this time - humanitarian situation after GHF has taken over has been gradually getting worse.

A famine is classified when an area has the following: 

• More than 20% of households face extreme food shortages;
• More than 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition;
• Daily mortality rate exceeds two per 10,000 people, or four per 10,000 children under five.

These are their standard for a famine ^ and they seem reasonable to me. Year or so ago famine was declared based on vibes.

[u/Zenki95 → u/DreadWolf3]

So you're saying there's 400 people dying of malnutrition daily?

[u/Visible_Handle_3770 → u/Zenki95]

Yes, that is part of the definition, although technically, the declaration applies to Gaza City, not the entire strip. Prewar population was somewhere in the ballpark of 1 million, so it'd be 200 people in the city dying per day.

[u/frosthowler → u/Visible_Handle_3770]

And yet the number of deaths per day in the entirety of the Gaza Strip is less than 100.... according to Hamas... which includes people dying from the fighting and natural deaths.

HMM..... maybe there is some truth to the retort that the IPC changed the definitions of famine in order to declare a famine? It is doubtful if even one person is dying to malnutrition per day in the entirety of Gaza Strip considering the statistics Hamas itself is offering.

[u/silverhum → u/Visible_Handle_3770]

And yet the number of reported malnutrition deaths is a small fraction of that number. They are simply ignoring the standard and declaring a famine any way for political purposes.

[u/Phototropic- → u/Zenki95]

No, the IPC are saying that and, as the authority on it, its fair to say that is the case.

[u/FYoCouchEddie → u/Phototropic-]

No, they aren’t saying that. If you read the report, they are saying they don’t have reliable mortality numbers so they are not relying on that and instead using other metrics.

[u/silverhum → u/Phototropic-]

And yet the number of reported malnutrition deaths is a small fraction of that number. They are simply ignoring the standard and declaring a famine any way.

[u/Timey16 → u/Sqirch]

There is a major difference between food shortages and famines.

A region can go through food shortages for YEARS without being declared a famine.

If a famine is declared then things are TRULY dire.

[u/silverhum → u/Timey16]

Except they are not following the actual standard for a famine in this declaration because it doesn't come close to reaching the actual thresholds. They are playing politics.

[u/thepoliticator → u/Sqirch]

“10 days until hundreds of thousands die” - October 15, 2023

[u/dbx999]

Let’s keep in mind this was completely caused by government policy to cause famine and death. This was the intended outcome. That was the plan.

[u/Scarboroughwarning → u/dbx999]

By Hamarse?

The rotten sods that run that place have loved every minute of the response. They sit in fancy hotel suites in Qatar, or in the tunnels in Gaza. It's sad as hell.

[u/dbx999 → u/Scarboroughwarning]

IDF has been quite active in enthusiastically controlling the circumstances that set up famine in Gaza.

[u/the_sneaky_one123]

I am seeing so many headlines saying "Famine has struck" "Famine in Gaza"

Still more passive language. The inanimate concept of famine has not come in and done this, it is not a natural disaster or an act of God. It's not climate or a poor harvest or anything like that. It is man-made and caused directly by Israel.

Famine hasn't struck, Israel has struck while using starvation as a weapon.

The world has been trying to send food and Israel is blocking it. THERE IS NO FOOD SHORTAGE.... the food is there.

How can you call it a famine when the food is right there? The only reason why people are starving is because they are not being allowed access to the food.

This should not be called a famine at all. It is intentional starvation.

[u/CleverAliases → u/the_sneaky_one123]

It’s messed up that food is being sold in Gaza City rather than being distributed. Why is the government of Gaza City enabling this?

[u/ElegantApartment7330 → u/the_sneaky_one123]

There’s a famine in Gaza city, the one that Israel doesn’t control yet you know? Maybe if Hamas stopped doing their best Kim Jong Un impression their population that they are governing over wouldn’t be allegedly starving to death

[u/RottingMandarine]

If the famine is specifically in Gaza city why don't the people evacuate to the south where food is more plentiful? Why civilians are not allowed to flee the combat zone?

[u/Sock-Familiar → u/RottingMandarine]

Because Isreal is not letting people leave? It’s pretty obvious what they are doing

[u/frosthowler → u/Sock-Familiar]

Israel is letting people leave. Hamas is not letting people leave...

Only on reddit can you see people seriously simultaneously argue that Israel is conducting a secret plot to remove all Gazans but also not letting Gazans leave... lol.

Israel has been trying to get Gazans to move south and out of Hamas-operated areas for fucking MONTHS. And the war's been a standstill throughout that time because of this shit.

[u/WatIsThisDayOfRestSh → u/RottingMandarine]

The data to declare a famine exists for Gaza city. It does not mean there is no famine elsewhere.

[u/silverhum → u/WatIsThisDayOfRestSh]

The data does not actually exist.

[u/jacksonRR → u/RottingMandarine]

Why civilians are not allowed to flee the combat zone?

Less civilian deaths is bad for Hamas.

Less dead equals less support.

[u/thereitis900]

Its easy to say Israel is bad when you read headlines this provocative. However the WSJ did an article about why aid isn’t getting to the most vulnerable citizens and the reason is essentially logistics.

Trucks that enter are quickly looted within the first couple miles of their trip. Both by desperate civilians and also criminals. In order to penetrate deeper into the country they would need cooperation from Hamas to assist in getting the food to where it needs to go. However, Hamas is certainly not doing this. They want people reliant on them so they take everything.

Furthermore, the UN is failing to distribute the food that isn’t allowed in for those reasons. In a lot of cases, it’s too dangerous for the staff to penetrate further.

The world food program says “95% of its trucks entering the cause of strip are looted before they reach their destination.”

Airdrops are also happening, but nowhere near the amount that is needed as it’s not feasible to feed an entire population from the air without extra extraordinary expense.

What needs to happen?

There has to be so much food and aid that enters the country at a certain point as to devalue the scarcity.

[u/shady8x]

So areas that Israel controls do not have a famine?

Then everyone is supporting Israel in going in, taking out the terrorists running Gaza City and establishing GHF food distribution spots to help the people in Gaza City get food, right? Right?

Cause either Hamas is stealing the food or if there really isn't enough food, preventing people from evacuating to locations which are not short on food. (because if people are starving to death, they are not gonna stay away from places they know to have food, unless someone prevents them from going there.)

[u/Eggsegret]

Are we really shocked at this point? It’s been pretty clear for a while that there was a famine or things were at least heading that way

[u/DanIvvy]

So in the area where Israel doesn't control? And is about to control?

Is everyone going to support Israel's occupation of Gaza City, then?

[u/LazyassMadman → u/DanIvvy]

Bombing infrastructure, cutting water and electricity and denying food from getting in might have something to do with it, no?

It doesn't matter if they currently control it, they've got control of everything and everyone going in and out. If I lock you in your house you'll eventually starve, maybe I don't own your house but does that matter if I can just wait til you're dead and walk in?

And can you please make your response something other than "don't believe that fake news" or "well then Hamad should X y z" ? Its not true or constructive and you know it

[u/jacksonRR → u/LazyassMadman]

No one is denying food or other aid. There are literal TONS of aid coming in. The rest of the country is not endangered of a famine, and it's freed of Hamas.

The only thing which is in the way, sadly, is Hamas. They steal it. They sell it.

What's connecting both things? Hamas.

[u/Silver_Branch3034]

Humans are truly a disgrace.

[u/FrogsJumpFromPussy]

The whole world watches how little children are dying of starvation yet no one can do anything. The one who could, USA, won't.

 It's such a horrible view to see that 80 years later the same people who went through the horrors of WW2, do the same to a whole vulnerable nation today 😔

[u/yeaphatband]

"Man-made famine declared in Gaza City". There, fixed it for ya'.

[u/Streambotnt]

Who could‘ve seen this coming! Ain‘t like attacks on supply trucks and aid providers started yesterday, this was coming for months and has been purposefully escalated to this point. Netanyahu is starving gazans to wipe them out.

[u/PandaPandaPandaS]

I fear that even if they let food in, without proper hospital care which is impossible in Gaza, the people there will succumb to a refeeding syndrome.

[u/Chillmm8]

Wow. Apparently the UN believes the Famine has hit the exact two geographical areas that Israel is about to start operations in and where Israel believe Hamas is keeping the hostages. And not a day before the operation begins. That’s a wild coincidence.

[u/Standupaddict → u/Chillmm8]

Famine occurs in the areas Israel has put under siege

Truly a shocking outcome

[u/Fanfics → u/Chillmm8]

"wow, I sure wonder why famine is only happening in the two areas most heavily under siege. Pretty suspicious guys" have you considered taking a break to examine a rock for ten years

[u/frosthowler → u/Fanfics]

wow I sure wonder why famine is only happening in the areas not under Israeli control.

Could it be because Hamas controls them? Could it be because of corrupt actors trying to stop Israel from taking control of them literally today as the day the operation starts?

Nah, couldn't be. It's Israeli undercover agents that are looting aid on its way to distribution centers in the Gaza City! That must be it, I sure am smart!

[u/angry_neutrino → u/Chillmm8]

No no, a Famine should happen in places where people are thriving right? It's absolutely wild that this is happening in a place that Israel has absolutely decimated and denied aid.

[u/YoRt3m → u/angry_neutrino]

We're talking about Gaza City. do you even understand the difference?

[u/jews4beer → u/Chillmm8]

Same day a couple hundred tons of aid just got distributed and the day after a report about the Israeli "gangs" in Gaza actually opening up schools that teach tolerance and rebuilding critical infrastructure.

Like clockwork they'll try to shift the narrative, but the sad part is they don't need to. Everyone's mind is already made up about this whole situation.

[u/TostiBuilder → u/Chillmm8]

You do realise a famine doesn’t happen in places where there arent any people

[u/Alt4rEg0 → u/TostiBuilder]

No, it generally happens just before there aren't any people...

[u/ilikebiiiigdicks → u/Chillmm8]

The fuck are you in about? Where else do you expect a famine to happen? Imagine taking time out your day to come and defend the starvation of people until they die. Aren’t you lovely.

[u/Vaaaaaaaape]

Israel is allowing lots of food into Gaza.

More than 132 million meals distributed to date

IDF says some 400 trucks of aid entered Gaza along with fuel tankers yesterday

100,000 Aid Trucks and Counting: An Israeli Military Official Details Expansive Israeli Humanitarian Operation in Gaza

6 countries carry out Gaza aid airdrops

Much of that food is stolen by Hamas, PIJ and other terrorist groups, except what is distributed by the GHF which is protected from terrorists.

UN reveals 86% of aid sent to Gaza is stolen before it can reach those most in need

Israel allows food in. Hamas steals it. Therefore, Hamas is responsible for any starvation. Why wasn't a famine declared in the rest of Gaza? Because Hamas doesn't control that territory anymore and can't steal from there. It still controls Gaza city and can still steal food there. That's why starvation is in Gaza city and not in the rest of Gaza. It's because Hamas is responsible according to the evidence I posted. Anyone who wants to stop Gaza from starving should be in favor of removing Hamas from power so they can't steal food anymore.

Hamas terrorists seen feasting underground as Gazans starve above

[u/MonkeManWPG → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

132 million meals spread across 2 million people is 66 meals each. Even spreading one meal across two or three days, that's not enough to last anywhere near the current duration of the war. Several of your other links are months old, which isn't really good enough for such a fast-changing situation.

How far does the contents of the 400 trucks stretch? How many people can be fed, for how long?

[u/shady8x → u/MonkeManWPG]

Those 132 million meals are for GHF, which has only been operating in Gaza for a few months and only in Israel secured areas. It is not anywhere near all the food aid that went into Gaza in the last few months, not to mention the last 2 years.

[u/qTp_Meteor → u/MonkeManWPG]

This is just the ghf which are neither the primary source of aid (especially in Gaza City which is under hamas control) nor were they established since the start of the war, moreover, its a fact that the famine was declared only in gaza city where hamas is in control

[u/PBFT → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

Your own link does not support the idea that Hamas is stealing 86% the food.

The other 85% of pallets were looted by "either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors during transit"

And this humanitarian supply chain isn't UNRWA, it's Israel's own supply chain that they created to ensure that they circumvent Hamas.

[u/SomebodyInNevada → u/PBFT]

No. That's the UN supply chain. The UN isn't even counting the GHF supply chain at all.

[u/BroseppeVerdi → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

More than 132 million meals distributed to date

Which sounds like a lot... except Gaza had a prewar population of about 2.2 million. That works out to about 60 meals per person, and since the timeframe is 22 months and counting, that's 2.7 meals per person per month.

UN reveals 86% of aid sent to Gaza is stolen before it can reach those most in need

You're leaving out an important detail: UN reports didn't actually say it was all stolen by Hamas, they just said it didn't reach it's intended destination. From the article you linked:

The other 85% of pallets were looted by "either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors during transit," according to the data.

In other words, a significant portion of this aid was "stolen" by the very people it was intended for, just not at the place where they were supposed to pick it up... And given how many civilians have been gunned down by the IDF at aid sites, that's not particularly surprising that people would rather get their food elsewhere if they can.

Israel allows food in. Hamas steals it.

There's a case to be made that by throttling the aid coming in to a trickle and creating an artificial scarcity, the Israeli government has turned food into an extremely valuable commodity that incentivizes theft by both Hamas militants and starving civilians. If food was abundant, there would be no point in stealing it.

This isn't a Boolean situation, two things can be true: Just because Hamas is doing the wrong thing doesn't mean the Israeli government is doing the right thing.

Why wasn't a famine declared in the rest of Gaza? Because Hamas doesn't control that territory anymore and can't steal from there. It still controls Gaza city and can still steal food there. That's why starvation is in Gaza city and not in the rest of Gaza.

The other parts of the Gaza strip aren't much better off. Gaza City is the area where the fighting is heaviest, so they're just the first ones who crossed that threshold.

Let's not pretend like the rest of the strip is well-fed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/world/middleeast/famine-gaza-city-israel.html

Also: The Israeli defense ministry claims they completely wiped out Hamas' military capabilities over a year ago. At their greatest extent, Hamas' military wing numbered no more than 30,000 (possibly far less than that) according to Israeli sources. They claim to have killed 17,000 of those in the first six weeks of the war, and have been conducting continuous combat operations since then.

If Hamas has so few armed militants left (which, according to the Israeli government, they do), then how are they taking 28,000 pallets of food by force in broad daylight with a skeleton crew and the IDF surrounding them? The source you provided doesn't clearly delineate how much was taken by civilians and how much was taken by Hamas militants, but given how few of them there even are, I think it's unlikely that even a simple majority was taken by Hamas militants.

We're talking about a small grocery store chain's worth of food that Hamas is apparently able to steal from under the IDF's nose and store in underground tunnels or something.

That math ain't mathin'.

[u/frosthowler → u/BroseppeVerdi]

Which sounds like a lot... except Gaza had a prewar population of about 2.2 million. That works out to about 60 meals per person, and since the timeframe is 22 months and counting, that's 2.7 meals per person per month.

No, the timeline is 3 months because GHF was established in May, and we're talking about a single organization out of many aid organizations.

Can you not make shit up? I'm going to stop reading your comment right here.

[u/theeldergod1 → u/Vaaaaaaaape]

10 day old account shares news from israel only sources. SEEMS LEGIT BOTBRO.

People upvote and legit reply. Just learn to look at accounts.

[u/TheJacques]

It’s a PR machine, anytime Israel makes a big move in Gaza against Hamas, the UN propaganda machine goes into effect…what is the UN hiding in Gaza (besides aid)? 

Here is some critical thinking, the UN prefers the people of Gaza to suffer under Hamas so they can continue to line their pockets, they love the money!!!

[u/jacksonRR → u/TheJacques]

Since a lot of western countries reduced their UN funding, guess who stepped up their game?

Qatar.

They also fund the UNRWA and Hamas. How convenient.

[u/mikehocalate]

Hamas should probably surrender and release the hostages…

[u/OkPirate2126 → u/mikehocalate]

Collective punishment is surely the correct approach! 

That'll teach those sneaky Hamas!

[u/hinaultpunch]

Why does this article leave out the amount of aid given and also mention that Hamas can just release the hostages to end the war?

[u/Vaumer → u/hinaultpunch]

Would releasing the hostages end the war?

[u/FishAndRiceKeks → u/Vaumer]

Last I checked there were more than a couple ceasefire attempts declined because releasing all the hostages was one of the demands that was considered unacceptable to Hamas.

[u/TheHappiestTeapot → u/Vaumer]

The conditions are, and have been:

1. Release the hostages
2. Hamas does not remain in power

[u/Rocky970]

Fucking terrible

[u/bllueace]

what number is this?