ROME, June 16, 2025 (WAFA) - A new joint UN report warned that the entire population in Gaza – 2.1 million people – is projected to face Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above) levels of acute food insecurity, with 470,000 projected to face Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) through September 2025.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) early warning report stated that the likelihood of famine in the Gaza Strip is growing as large-scale military operations hinder the ability to deliver vital food and non-food humanitarian assistance. In addition to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, high food prices coupled with exhausted livelihoods and a commercial blockade will accelerate an economic collapse, it said.
The new joint UN report warned that people in five hunger hotspots around the world face extreme hunger and risk of starvation and death in the coming months unless there is urgent humanitarian action and a coordinated international effort to de-escalate conflict, stem displacement, and mount an urgent full-scale aid response.
The latest Hunger Hotspots report showed that Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali are hotspots of highest concern, with communities already facing famine, at risk of famine, or confronted with catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity due to intensifying or persisting conflict, economic shocks, and natural hazards. The devastating crises are being exacerbated by growing access constraints and critical funding shortfalls.
“This report makes it very clear: hunger today is not a distant threat – it is a daily emergency for millions,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said.
“We must act now, and act together, to save lives and safeguard livelihoods. Protecting people’s farms and animals to ensure they can keep producing food where they are, even in the toughest and harshest conditions, is not just urgent – it is essential.”
The Gaza Strip is currently facing a catastrophic humanitarian and relief crisis due to the blockade imposed by Israeli occupation authorities since March 2, 2023, which has severely restricted the entry of essential supplies such as food, medicine, humanitarian aid, and fuel. Meanwhile, the Israeli army is escalating the intensity of the genocide in the besieged enclave.
Since the start of the ongoing genocidal war on October 7, 2023, more than 184,000 civilians have been killed or injured, mostly children and women. Additionally, more than 11,000 people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
T.R.
