A United Nations-backed report declaring famine in areas of Gaza has sparked a war of words over the conditions in the enclave.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released a report on Friday in which it declared for the first time that the Gaza Governorate is experiencing a famine. Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis are meanwhile in severe crisis. Conditions in Northern Gaza are estimated to be as severe as those in the Gaza Governorate or worse. The IPC report does not touch on conditions in Rafah, as it is largely considered to be depopulated.
The IPC, a U.N.-backed initiative involving U.N. agencies, NGOs and technical experts, has been widely considered to be the global standard for classifying food crises.
Israel has fiercely pushed back against the report's findings, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying it was "an outright lie." While Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmorstein claimed the report was "tailor-made" based on "Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests" and denied that a famine exists in Gaza.
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"Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation," the prime minister's office wrote in a thread on X that included Israeli data on the situation in Gaza.
Marmorstein also claimed that IPC "twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel."
In its Aug. 22 report, the IPC projected that by the end of September the famine will expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, leaving 641,000 people in famine conditions. The report predicts that the number of people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency) conditions will rise to 1.14 million while 198,000 will be in crisis.
In its recommendations, the IPC calls for an immediate ceasefire, a guarantee of unconditional and safe humanitarian access, protection of civilian infrastructure and large-scale humanitarian assistance.
APP USERS READ THE IPC REPORT HERE
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After the report was released, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the Jewish state on X.
"This is not a mystery - it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself. Famine is not only about food; it is the deliberate collapse of the systems needed for human survival," Guterres wrote on X. "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 ended his message with calls for a ceasefire, unfettered humanitarian access and the return of the hostages.
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), all of which participate in the IPC, reiterated their call for an immediate humanitarian response and ceasefire.
Israel's Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), slammed the IPC for relying on Hamas-run entities, UNRWA assessments and "unverifiable sources," while ignoring the data from Jerusalem.
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Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a former White House and National Security Council official during both Trump administrations, took issue with the report's findings, calling them politically motivated.
"The ideology of destroying Israel and saving Hamas is widespread within the U.N. and far-left NGOs, leading them to change their own guidelines for declaring a famine in Gaza while they ignore an actual famine in Sudan. The data doesn't support a famine declaration in Gaza, but that doesn't matter when the conclusion is politically pre-ordained," Goldberg told Fox News Digital.
Goldberg also noted the timing of the report, which came just days after Israel said it would enter Gaza City - which is in the Gaza Governorate - was "the most telling part of it all."
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee shared a statement from Netanyahu's office and said that "tons of food has gone into Gaza but Hamas savages stole it, ate lots of it to become corpulent, sold it on the black market but they didn't give it to the hostages."
Fifty hostages have been held in Gaza for nearly 700 days. Of those, 20 are believed to be alive while the rest are confirmed dead. Hamas is holding onto their remains. Earlier this month, the terror group released a video of hostage Evyatar David who appeared extremely thin and said he had not eaten in days.
