On Thursday, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared famine conditions in northern Gaza, making this only the fifth IPC-confirmed famine in the organization’s 20-year history—and the first ever in the Middle East.
The IPC cites plummeting food consumption, with more than one in three people going days without eating; acute malnutrition rates doubling in some areas; and mounting evidence of starvation-related deaths. According to the World Health Organization, 74 Gazans died from malnutrition in 2025—63 in July alone. Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry reports 271 malnutrition deaths in total, including of 112 children, since the conflict began.
The Israeli government responded immediately, calling the report not only “an outright lie” but “a modern blood libel.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cited successful humanitarian deliveries and falling prices for basic goods, arguing that shortages were on account of systematic thefts of aid by Hamas—while Israeli officials argued that while current shortages are connected to an 11-week aid blockade, that ended months ago; non-Israeli factors are driving circumstances now; and there is, in all events, no intentional Israeli starvation policy.
Meanwhile, as Gaza’s 2.1 million residents live through the circumstances, others near and far are parsing competing narratives from organizations with fundamentally different stakes in the outcome.
So what’s actually happening?