UN: Gaza no longer in famine but hunger levels remain critical

[Twiglets1]

The Guardian: almost one in eight people face food shortages as flooding and cold exacerbate humanitarian emergency.

The famine in Gaza has ended as a result of increased humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory, the UN said on Friday, though it warned that levels of hunger and the humanitarian situation remained critical.

Almost one in eight people in Gaza still faced food shortages, the UN said, adding that persistent hunger had been made worse by winter flooding and the colder weather. Most people in Gaza live in tents or other substandard accommodation as Israel destroyed much of the housing and civilian infrastructure during its two-year war.

Israel has partly eased restrictions on the entry of aid since an October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but delivery was still limited and inconsistent, the UN said.

“No areas are classified in famine,” said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative, used by the UN to monitor food crises. The IPC first declared a famine in parts of Gaza in August after Israeli restrictions of food aid into the territory led to mass starvation, with at least 450 people starving to death, according to the Gaza ministry of health.

After the US-mediated ceasefire took effect in October, Israel began to allow more aid from the UN and its partners to enter.

“Following the ceasefire … the latest IPC analysis indicates notable improvements in food security and nutrition compared to the August 2025 analysis, which detected famine,” the IPC said.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/19/gaza-famine-hunger-food-shortages-winter-flooding-un

From the same article, the response from the other side:

Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, said in a post on X on Friday that in the face of “overwhelming and unequivocal evidence, even the IPC had to admit that there is no famine in Gaza”.

Cogat, the Israeli body in charge of humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said the IPC report “portrays a distorted, biased, and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip”.

The IPC which is considered the global authority on food crises has a 5 point Acute Food Insecurity scale consisting of 5 (famine/catastrophe), 4 (emergency), 3 (crisis), 2 (stressed), 1 (none/minimal).

Their key findings on Gaza published in December 2025.

Acute Food Insecurity Situation for 16 October - 30 November 2025 and Projection for 1 December 2025 - 15 April 2026.

Following a significant reduction in conflict, a proposed peace plan, and improved access for both humanitarian and commercial food deliveries, food security conditions have improved in the Gaza Strip. However, the situation remains critical.

Between 16 October and 30 November 2025, around 1.6 million people (77 percent of the population analysed) faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). This includes more than half a million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and over 100,000 people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).

During the projection period (1 December 2025 to 15 April 2026), the situation is expected to remain severe with around 1.6 million people still facing Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above) food insecurity. This includes 571,000 people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) conditions, and about 1,900 people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), reflecting a reduction in the most extreme conditions.

https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1159820/?iso3=PSE

thank you twiglets, it’s reassuring to see that the ceasefire has had a measurably positive impact on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It is what we all hoped for as the Palestinians are truly the victims caught in the middle of a brutal war with no option to flee.

I don’t quite agree with Oren and Cogat as they seem to be implying there never was famine in Gaza.
”The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification comes four months after it reported that 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip - were experiencing famine, a finding rejected by Israel.” - Reuters via Yahoo, link below

We may have come out of famine since the ceasefire, but that isn’t proof there never was famine.

Although IPC has reported the improved conditions, 73% of the population is still at level 3 (crisis) or above including over 100,000 in the highest level 5 (catastophe) and this clearly shows that not enough aid is getting in.

This report further supports the concerns of the UN and dozens of NGOs providing the aid that Israeli military bureaucracy is preventing Israel from meeting its obligations to expedite much more humanitarian aid into Gaza under the ceasefire.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/12/1166622

17 Dec 25 “Humanitarian agencies working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) have warned that life-saving aid operations risk collapse unless Israel immediately lifts new barriers that are blocking access and forcing international charities to shut down.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/israel-must-lift-all-barriers-to-aid-without-delay-and-let-international-ngos-operate-freely-uk-statement-at-the-un-security-council

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/gaza-no-longer-famine-says-120723883.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADohTQZzGkPtSvRMI9wPNVzFUqVX1t8OQYw2gnoVVYJfCEIHcaz6_CskClwGWCi8z3h5EPE-TNDQwH7OCK9CnmiCwlxVpFQa3BeymDEbFdWfLA67hkWdYaIyAVepoCBOIKQKhO9UmkxT_m1PZsoSztGuPsbbe9ZlO90ZmurG9cgu

Yes I agree @SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice it can only be good news that the humanitarian crisis has eased somewhat and is forecast to continue to do so as long as the ceasefire holds. I think people need to understand this if they are repeating what they see on social media about, “it’s barely a ceasefire”. Things would be a lot worse for Palestinians were it not for the ceasefire. Even if both sides have broken the terms of it, the ceasefire holds thanks goodness. Long may it continue to hold & hopefully move into phase 2 in the new year.

The main argument about famine was that it was never widespread enough in Gaza to meet the official definition of a famine, which is based I believe on a certain percentage of the people in a country/region experiencing it. The debate was not that no one was experiencing famine or malnutrition in Gaza. Clearly some people did die as a result of shortages of food or special milk powder - 450 according to the Hamas run health ministry. And we know from the awful photos coming out of Gaza who the shortages at this time affected the most - babies & sick children who were the most vulnerable.

Yes I agree twiglets, and also hope the ceasefire holds despite the violations. Things should keep getting better.

I agree the debate was about the definition of famine, and I do believe the IPC followed the definition when they announced it in the summer for Gaza. As it is some people in Gaza are still experiencing famine like conditions and some are still dying of starvation. But since the ceasefire, it’s not been to the level that meets a declaration of famine for a region.