The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has placed Gaza in Phase 5; its highest tier to denote catastrophic level of food insecurity. The IPC outlines the scale of food insecurity in countries experiencing recurrent or protracted crises, ranging from Phase 1 to Phase 5: Phase 1 indicates minimal insecurity, Phase 2 stress, Phase 3 crisis, and Phase 4 emergency. Phase 5 is defined as a condition of extreme lack of food over a prolonged period, resulting in starvation, destitution, acute malnutrition and death. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) reports that more than one in four households along the Gaza Strip faces a risk of famine and extreme hunger unless adequate access to food, water, and sanitation is secured soon. This means that roughly 459,000 people or 25% of the entire population have no access to basic necessities. This figure excludes those with only limited access, which affects nearly 745,000 people, or 33% of the population. The announcement calls for an urgent need for immediate access while showcasing the political deadlock that continues to obstruct the distribution of necessities.

Background

The latest Gaza conflict began in October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas. Over the following months, the war expanded regionally: Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen attacked Israel in support of Hamas, prompting strikes. By late 2023, Israel’s invasion displaced most of Gaza’s population and essential supplies. A brief ceasefire in November 2023 and early 2025 allowed hostage exchanges, but as both sides accused each other of violations, fighting soon resumed. Israel launched new operations; renewing airstrikes and tightened aid restrictions, pushing Gaza into IPC Phase 5 classification. By early 2025, months of war had transformed Gaza into rubble with the continuation of military pressure. Repeated displacement of over 2.1 million residents, along with the destruction of infrastructure and agricultural land has erased much of Gaza’s capacity, making the area entirely dependent on restricted aid. 

Manmade Famine & GHF

Phase 5 is not just hunger, it is a condition where the people do not even have the basic resources to cook or buy anything. Throughout time, access for humanitarian aid has been restricted due to ‘security incidents’ during distributions, allowing only little assistance to enter Gaza. The ongoing blockade’s main issue is not only the lack of money, it is the absence of goods in markets, where every grocery store, community kitchen, and restaurant is completely shut down or destroyed. The conditions are too inadequate to meet the scale of needs. Experts have highlighted that the conditions in Gaza are not caused by natural causes rather human actions. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization stated in a virtual press conference from Geneva: "I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it’s man-made, and that’s very clear.” As the Israeli government blocks the distribution of life-saving aids, outside the Gaza strip; food, clean water, medical supplies, and shelter provided by humanitarian organizations remain untouched. The condition shows how the situation is entirely preventable yet is still allowed to happen.

The temporary ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 to approximately March 18 2025, 400 aid distribution points that are primarily coordinated by the UN was operated around Gaza. Regardless of that, as the war resumed, the Israeli government ceased to replace the distribution points with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) with only four distribution sites. These sites are militarized under Israeli military control. The GHF is a United States and Israel based humanitarian foundation that starts to operate in May 2025, aiming to set up food distribution sites for the Gazans that are facing famine. Despite that, Thameen Al-Kheetan, OHCHR spokesperson noted that as for the 21st of July, 1.054 civilians were killed while trying to get food in the GHF sites. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East called the GHF distribution a death trap where snipers are given permission to kill as they open fire on the crowd. While Johnnie Moor, GHF’s executive director calls the incident a ‘misinformation’ asserting that the foundation has provided 44 million aids to Gazans since May. However, Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, an emergency coordinator from an on-site humanitarian group, described the situation: “if people arrive early and approach the checkpoints, they get shot. If they arrive on time, but there is an overflow and they jump over the mounds and the wires, they get shot. If they arrive late, they shouldn’t be there because it is an ‘evacuated zone’, they get shot.” This illustrates what the militarization of aid looks like, when humanitarianism becomes a tool for political or military purposes rather than to help the refugees.

International Affairs

A ‘tactical pause’ will be implemented in three areas of Gaza to help aid organizations to deliver necessary supplies. On July 27, the WFP announced that Israel had begun instituting a daily 10-hour humanitarian pause to facilitate increased aid deliveries to Gaza. According to the WFP, current and incoming aid is sufficient to feed the entire population of Gaza for nearly three months, with 350 truckloads of food aid scheduled. Following Israeli approval to ease restrictions, trucks from Egypt have begun to enter Gaza with flour and other essential food items. Additional aid is arriving from Jordan, in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates, including 25 tonnes of supplies delivered via land, air, or sea with commitments to continue assistance as needed. 

The IPC Phases stands more than just a technical classification but a sign of institutional failure at every level. It is a warning that the Gazans may be a victim of a fully preventable humanitarian failure. While temporary pauses and limited aid show some hope, these methods cannot reverse the crisis that has happened nor the lives and health that was taken from the Gaza civilians. Unless structural barriers to humanitarian access are addressed, large scale deliveries will only act as a temporary relief rather than a pathway to the reality of weaponized starvation.