The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, the first time it has done so in the Middle East, with experts warning 500,000 people face "catastrophic" hunger.

Top UN officials put the blame squarely on Israel, accusing it of "systematic obstruction" of aid deliveries to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Israel's foreign ministry said the declaration that famine is now present in and around Gaza City was "based on Hamas lies laundered through organisations with vested interests".

"There is no famine in Gaza," it insisted.

The assessment of famine was made by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises.

It defines famine as occurring when 20 percent of households have an extreme lack of food; 30 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished; and at least two in every 10,000 people die daily from outright starvation or from malnutrition and disease.

UN agencies have for months been warning of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has worsened as Israel steps up its offensive against Hamas.

"After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death," the IPC report said.

The IPC projected that famine would spread to the Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis governorates by the end of September, encompassing more than three-quarters of the total Gaza population, or nearly 641,000 people.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said "it is a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare".

Tom Fletcher, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, told reporters in Geneva that "food stacks up at borders because of systematic obstruction by Israel".

He said the famine in Gaza should "haunt us all".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in the war, the release of all hostages taken by Hamas from Israel, and full humanitarian access to Gaza.

"We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity," he said.

Children are particularly hard hit by the lack of food.

In July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished, a six-fold increase since January, according to UN agencies.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel's terms.

"Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas's murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel's conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament," the minister posted on social media.

"If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun," he added, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed in Israeli operations.

The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Thursday that he had ordered immediate negotiations aimed at freeing all the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Netanyahu added that the push to release the hostages would accompany the operation to take control of Gaza City and destroy the Hamas stronghold. (AFP)
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Last updated: 2025-08-22 HKT 20:10