UN Declares Famine in Gaza | 29 Aug 2025

Source: TH

The United Nations has officially declared a famine in Gaza, marking the first famine in West Asia, with over half a million people facing extreme hunger due to conflict and restricted access to food.

• Famine: The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) defines Famine as a situation in which at least one in five households has an extreme lack of food and face starvation and destitution, resulting in extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition and death.
  • IPC Phase 5 is the highest phase of the IPC Acute Food Insecurity scale, and is attributed when an area has at least 20% of households, acute malnutrition in at least 30% of children under five, and mortality of at least two per 10,000 people daily.
• Cause: Sharp escalation of Israel-Hamas conflict, massive displacement, and severe restriction of humanitarian and commercial food supplies. 

Gaza Strip

• The Gaza Strip is a coastal territory in West Asia, approximately 41 km long and 10 km-wide territory, situated northeast of the Sinai Peninsula. 
• It borders Israel to the north and east, Egypt to the southwest, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
• The Gaza Strip remains a strategically important and densely populated enclave, central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with ongoing humanitarian, political, and security challenges.