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Famine in Gaza: ‘a failure of humanity itself,’ says UN chief

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UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the results of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis were no mystery: “It is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment – and a failure of humanity itself.

“Famine is not about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival.”

Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks, the IPC estimates.

UN agencies have collectively and consistently highlighted the extreme urgency of delivering immediate and full-scale humanitarian aid given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition and plummeting levels of food consumption in Gaza – with hundreds of thousands going days without anything to eat.

Israel’s obligations

“As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population,” said the UN chief, reacting to the famine declaration from the IPC, which is endorsed by dozens of governments, UN agencies and NGOs as the key evidence-based measure of food insecurity and malnutrition.

See our UN News explainer here.

Mr. Guterres said Israel’s denial of its duties could not be allowed to continue: “No more excuses. The time for action is not tomorrow – it is now.”

Silence the guns, release the hostages

UN agencies operating in Gaza joined the UN chief in calling for an immediate ceasefire to finally allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response and the immediate release of all hostages taken by Hamas and other militants during the 7 October 2023 terror attacks.

Agencies also expressed grave concern over the threat of the intensified military offensive on Gaza City and any further escalation in the conflict, as it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.

“Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate,” they said in a joint statement.

Famine set to expand

By the end of September, more than 640,000 people will face ‘catastrophic’ levels of food insecurity – classified as IPC Phase 5 – across the Gaza Strip.

An additional 1.14 million people in the enclave will be in phase 4 with a further 396,000 people facing phase 3 ‘crisis’ conditions.

Conditions in North Gaza are estimated to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza City. However, limited data prevented an IPC classification, highlighting the urgent need for access.

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 latest analysis now affirms on the basis of reasonable evidence that these criteria have been met, UN agencies said.

Briefing journalists on Friday at UN headquarters in Geneva, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said it was a famine that could have been prevented “if we had been allowed.”

A young severely malnourished girl is helped into her clothes.

Famine in a fertile land

“Yet food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel. It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food, in a fertile land.

It is a famine that we repeatedly warned of – but that the international media has not been allowed in to cover, to bear witness,” he added.

“It is a famine in 2025. A 21st century famine watched over by drones and the most advanced military technology in history. It is a famine openly promoted by some Israeli leaders as a weapon of war.”

On a wider scale, Mr. Fletcher said it was “the world’s famine. It is a famine that asks ‘but what did you do?’ A famine that will and must haunt us all.”

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is accelerating “at a catastrophic pace”, said UN agencies, who note that in July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished – the highest monthly figure ever recorded and a six-fold increase since the start of the year.

First Middle East famine

Since the last IPC Analysis in May, the number of children expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by the end of June 2026 has tripled from 14,100 to 43,400.

The new assessment reports the most severe deterioration since the IPC began analysing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition in Gaza Strip, and it marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.

Since July, food and aid supplies entering Gaza increased slightly but remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent and inaccessible compared to the need.

Meanwhile, approximately 98 percent of cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible – decimating the agriculture sector and local food production – and nine of ten people have been serially displaced from homes. 

‘A moral failure’: Security Council hears about grave violations against children caught in war

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“From that day on, our home became a travel bag and our path became that of displacement … My childhood was filled with fear and anxiety and people I was deprived of,” she said, speaking via videoconference from Syria.  

Seema Sen Gupta, director of child protection and migration at UNICEF, briefs the Security Council. 

Sila, now 17, described her experiences during the Syrian Civil War to a meeting of the UN Security Council held on Wednesday to discuss the findings of the Secretary-General’s latest report on Children and Armed Conflict.

The report documented a 25 per cent increase in grave violations against children in 2024, the largest number ever recorded in its 20-year history. 

“This year’s report from the Secretary-General once again confirms what too many children already know — that the world is failing to protect them from the horrors of war,” said Sheema Sen Gupta, director of child protection at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Each violation against children in every country around the globe represents a moral failure.”

The real scale of the harm

The report presented to the Security Council is published annually to document grave violations against children affected by war. It relies entirely on data compiled and verified by the UN, meaning that the real numbers are likely much higher than reported.  

In 2024, the report documented a record 41,370 grave violations — including killing and maiming, rape, abduction and the targeting of infrastructure such as schools which supports children.  

“Each child struck by these attacks carries a story, a stolen life, a dream interrupted, a future obscured by senseless violence and protracted conflict,” said Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, whose office produced the report.  

Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, briefs the Security Council. 

While many of these violations occurred during times of conflict — especially as urban warfare is on the rise — grave violations can persist even after a conflict ends. 

They persist in the unexploded ordinances which still pepper the ground.  

“Every unexploded shell left in a field, schoolyard, or alley is a death sentence waiting to be triggered,” said Ms. Sen Gupta.  

They persist in the spaces which remain destroyed, impeding children from accessing healthcare and education.  

And they persist in the trauma and injuries which never fully leave a child.  

Scars that never heal

Children who survive the grave violations do not escape unscathed — if they suffered violence, the injuries will stay with them for a lifetime. And even if they were not injured, the trauma remains.

“The physical and psychological scars borne by survivors last a lifetime, affecting families, communities and the very fabric of societies,” said Ms. Gamba.  

This is why UNICEF and its partners have worked to provide reintegration programmes and psychosocial support for children who are victims of grave violations.

Sila said that the trauma of her childhood is still with her, and has pushed her to become an advocate for children in conflicts.  

“From that moment on, nothing has felt normal in my life. I’ve developed a phobia of any sound that resembles a plane, of the dark, and even of silence,” she said.  

‘This cannot be the new normal’

Ms. Gamba called for “unwavering condemnation and urgent action” from the international community in order to reverse the worrying trends which the report details.  

“We cannot afford to return to the dark ages where children were invisible and voiceless victims of armed conflict… Please do not allow them to slip back into the shadows of despair,” she said. 

Current funding cuts to humanitarian aid are impeding the work of UN agencies and partners to document and respond to grave violations against children.

In light of this, Ms. Sen Gupta’s call for the Security Council was simple: “Fund this agenda.”

She said that the international community cannot allow this to become “a new normal,” and reminded the members of the Security Council that children are not and should never be “collateral damage.”

Despite the devastation which the report detailed, there were “glimmers of hope” according to Ms. Sen Gupta. For example, the Syrian National Army signed an action plan which will prevent the recruitment, killing and maiming of children.  

Sila also spoke of hope — she hopes that hers is the last generation to suffer these grave violations.  

“I am from a generation that survived. Physically,” she said. “Our bodies survived but our hearts are still living in fear. Please help us replace the word displacement with return, the word rubble with home, the word war with life.” 

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