The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Global Initiative has issued a dire alert, warning that Israel’s relentless aggression has plunged the Gaza Strip into a catastrophic famine, as confirmed by evidence through July 25, 2025.

Building on the IPC’s May analysis that flagged a famine risk, the alert demands immediate action to halt Israel’s actions and address the unfolding humanitarian disaster.

The IPC reports that famine thresholds for food consumption have been breached across most of Gaza, with acute malnutrition reaching critical levels in Gaza City. One in three Palestinians is enduring days without food, and extreme hunger has doubled since May. Over 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition from April to mid-July, with more than 3,000 severely malnourished. At least 16 children under five have died from hunger-related causes since July 17, as hospitals buckle under Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Since mid-May, Israel’s intensified bombardments and ground operations have killed nearly 6,700 Palestinians and displaced an additional 325,000, with 88% of Gaza now under evacuation orders or militarized zones. Access to food is dangerously limited, with over 1,000 Palestinians killed since May 27 while desperately seeking aid. Israel’s blockade, only marginally eased on May 19, has choked humanitarian aid to a trickle, leaving bakeries shuttered and community kitchens unable to cope with the scale of need.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) reports distributing 89 million meals, mostly in militarized zones along the Khan Younis–Rafah border, but these efforts fall short. Most food requires water and fuel—scarce due to Israel’s restrictions—for preparation, and vulnerable Palestinians face perilous journeys to access distribution points, where aid is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, sidelining the most desperate.

The IPC’s May analysis warned that by September 2025, all of Gaza’s population would face acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), with 500,000 in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), marked by starvation and death. Over 70,000 children under five and 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of acute malnutrition across North Gaza, Gaza, and Rafah.

The IPC demands an immediate end to Israel’s hostilities, unrestricted humanitarian access, and restoration of basic services to avert further loss of life. “Only a ceasefire can stop this catastrophe,” the alert stresses, calling for urgent global action to end Israel’s blockade and aggression, ensuring life-saving aid reaches Palestinians facing starvation and suffering in Gaza. (ILKHA)