The United Nations on Friday formally declared a famine in northern Gaza, the first ever confirmed in West Asia.

The famine conditions are predicted to spread from the Gaza Governorate to the Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis regions of the besieged Palestinian territory in the coming weeks, the UN cited a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis as saying in a statement.

More than half a million people in the region are trapped in famine conditions, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, it added.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification is a standardised tool that combines data on food security, nutrition and livelihoods to assess the severity of crises and guide response.

“Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds, extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths, have been breached,” the UN said.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began in October 2023 after the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 persons during its incursion into southern Israel and took hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then, leaving more than 62,000 persons dead.

Tel Aviv has enforced a blockade on humanitarian aid, which the UN previously said had brought the population to the brink of famine.

In July alone, more than 12,000 children in Gaza were identified as acutely malnourished. This was the highest monthly figure ever recorded and a six-fold increase since the start of the year, the UN said on Friday.

Nearly one in four of these children is suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form with short and long-term impacts.

Meanwhile, approximately 98% of the cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible, decimating the agriculture sector and local food production, the UN added.

Nine out of ten persons have been displaced from their homes, it added. Cash is critically scarce and aid operations remain severely disrupted.

Food prices are extremely high, and there is not enough fuel and water to cook, medicines and medical supplies, the UN statement said.

Gaza’s health system has severely deteriorated, access to safe drinking water and sanitation services have been drastically reduced, while multi-drug resistant infections are surging and levels of morbidity are alarmingly high among children, it added.

The statement said: “An immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives.”

António Guterres, secretary-general of the UN, described the famine as a “man-made disaster”, adding that an “an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and full, unfettered humanitarian access” was required.

“Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: ‘famine’,” he said in a statement. “This is not a mystery – it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself.”

He said that a famine was not only about food but the “deliberate collapse” of the systems needed for human survival. “People are starving,” Guterres said. “Children are dying. And those with the duty to act are failing.”

The secretary-general added: “As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity.”

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher described the famine as “entirely preventable”, blaming it on “systematic obstruction by Israel” that has blocked food from reaching Gaza, AFP reported.

Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the UN’s findings, saying “there is no famine in Gaza”.

Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks since July 6. Earlier efforts to reinstate a brief ceasefire that took effect in January had stalled due to major disagreements between the two sides.

Also read: Starvation in Gaza: How Israel is attempting to hide the truth of its brutal war

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