Somoud Wahdan looks at the camera while she and her child wait for trucks of humanitarian aid to arrive in Gaza City, July 25, 2025.A UN-backed body has officially declared famine in Gaza for the first time, causing outrage around the globe – including within the UK government.
According to a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said 514,000 people in the Palestinian territory are experiencing famine.
That’s approximately a quarter of Gaza’s entire population.
The IPC expect this number to rise to 614,000 by the end of September.
More than half (around 280,000) of those suffering these severe levels of hunger are based in the northern region covering Gaza City, also called the Gaza governorate.
At least 20% of a region has to be suffering from extreme food shortages for it to be called a famine.
It usually means one in three children is acutely malnourished, while a further two in every 10,000 people are dying every day from starvation or malnutrition and disease.
The UN human rights agency said today that the famine is a direct result of Israel’s actions and therefore could amount to a war crime.
Famine is not a very common occurrence. Previous famines were declared in Somalia in 2011, and in Sudan in 2017, 2020, and 2024.
A new report from Forensic Architecture and the World Peace Foundation also accused Israel of worsening starvation with a “military model” of aid distribution on Friday.
The UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy released a statement today calling the conditions in Gaza a “moral outrage”.
Read Lammy’s full statement here:
“The confirmation of famine in Gaza City and the surrounding neighbourhood is utterly horrifying and is wholly preventable.
The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage.
The IPC report makes clear the sickening consequences, especially for children. The Government of Israel can and must immediately act to stop the situation deteriorating any further. It must immediately and sustainably allow unhindered food, medical supplies, fuel, and all types of aid to reach those who so desperately need them.
The Israeli government must allow the UN and international NGOs to carry out their life-saving work without obstruction. Aid must reach those in need urgently and without delay.
We desperately need an immediate ceasefire, to enable aid delivery at maximum speed and at the scale required. This includes halting the military operation in Gaza City which is the epicentre of the famine.
The UK reiterates its condemnation of this military action, which will only worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of the hostages held by Hamas. We urge the Israeli government to change course and halt its plans.
This terrible conflict must end. An immediate and permanent ceasefire is the only way to stop the suffering, secure the release of the hostages, achieve a surge in aid and deliver a framework for lasting peace.”
Lammy was not alone in his fury.
The UN’s secretary-general Antonio Guterres wrote on X: “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 it is “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself”.
“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,” Guterres said.
“No more excuses. The time for action is not tomorrow — it is now. We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages and full, unfettered humanitarian access.”
The CEO of Save the Children UK, Moazzam Malik, called for “this siege and weaponisation of aid” to end, and for the British government to suspend all arms transfers to Israel.
Helen Stawski, Oxfam’s policy lead, hit out at Israel too, saying the country has been “denying almost every request from long-established humanitarian agencies, prevent ing them from delivering vital food”.
She added: “Oxfam alone has more than $2.5m worth of life-saving aid, including high-calorie food packages – now sitting in warehouses outside Gaza. Israeli authorities have rejected it all, at a time when it is needed more than ever.”
Plan International UK said the famine was an “entirely man-made hunger catastrophic that is killing Gaza children every day”.
A nutritional expert working for CARE International, Samah Wadi, in Gaza, said people in the territory are “looking for anything to survive on, to hold onto, even if it means it will only save them for another couple of hours”.
Israeli ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely rejected the famine conclusion.
Writing on X, she accused the IPC of “amplifying data sourced from Hamas, a designated terrorist organization”.
She said: “It is illogical to suggest the situation is worsening when clear evidence shows improvement. This is yet another example of disinformation, promoted by UN agencies and echoed by the media, which only serves Hamas’s propaganda campaign.”
Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, an allegation it denies.
Global frustration with Israel is still building, though.
The UK joined EU allies and Australia to condemn Israel’s other new plan to construct a settlement east of Jerusalem, known as the E1 area, on Thursday.
In a joint statement, each country’s foreign minister – including Lammy – said the plan is “unacceptable and a violation of international law”.
The UK’s minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer also said this week that the humanitarian crisis had “reached new depths”.
He said: “Israel must immediately and permanently lift all barriers preventing aid reaching the people of Gaza to prevent the horrifying starvation in the Strip continuing.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached new depths and that is why we are doing all we can to end the current suffering and change the situation on the ground.
“We continue to support efforts to bring about an immediate ceasefire. We also need a comprehensive plan to end this misery and get to a long-term settlement that provides peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
A new investigation from the Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call found this week that five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians – even though Israel claimed it was working to wipe out Hamas militants.
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