Gaza crisis live: Global hunger monitor warns of famine
Famine is playing out in Gaza, says global hunger monitor alert
UN chief: Creeping annexation of West Bank and destruction of Gaza must stop
U.S. President Donald Trump says many are starving in Gaza
Two Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide
EU proposes curbs on Israel research funding over Gaza crisis
Dutch impose travel ban on Israeli ministers
'Formal famine declarations always lag reality'
8 minutes ago
04:17 EDT
Michelle Nichols and Olivia Le Poidevin
For an area to be classified as in famine, at least 20% of people must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
The latest data indicated that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption in most of the war-torn Palestinian enclave - where some 2.1 million people remain - and for acute malnutrition in Gaza City, the IPC alert said.
The IPC has classified areas as being in famine four times: Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, and Sudan in 2024. The IPC says it does not declare famine, but instead provides an analysis to allow governments and others to do so.
"Formal famine declarations always lag reality," David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee aid group, said in a statement ahead of the IPC alert.
"By the time that famine was declared in Somalia in 2011, 250,000 people - half of them children under 5 - had already died of hunger. By the time famine is declared, it will already be too late," he said.
'Widespread starvation' in Gaza, global hunger monitor warns
23 minutes ago
04:02 EDT
Michelle Nichols and Olivia Le Poidevin
Famine is "playing out" in the Gaza Strip, a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday.
That's as international criticism of Israel intensifies over the rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave.
"The worst-case scenario of Famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert.
"Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths."
The IPC alert does not formally classify Gaza as being in famine. Such a classification can only be made through an analysis, which the IPC said it would now conduct "without delay."
The IPC is a global initiative that partners with 21 aid groups, international organizations, and U.N. agencies, and assesses the extent of hunger suffered by a population.
War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas for the past 22 months.
Facing global condemnation over the humanitarian crisis, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of the Palestinian enclave and allow new aid corridors.
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