THE United Nations announced yesterday that the famine in Gaza, declared in August, has officially ended thanks to enhanced access for humanitarian aid, but cautioned that the territory’s food situation remains critical.
AFP cited today that more than 70 per cent of Gaza’s population continues to live in makeshift shelters, with hunger compounded by winter floods and falling temperatures, increasing the risk of hypothermia.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States in October, has partially eased restrictions on goods and aid. However, deliveries fluctuate daily and remain limited and uneven across Gaza, according to the UN.
“No areas are classified in Famine,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said. The coalition of monitoring groups tasked by the UN to detect food crises stressed, however, that “the situation remains critical: the entire Gaza Strip is classified in Emergency.”
The ceasefire halted two years of conflict following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but the agreement remains fragile, with both sides frequently accusing each other of violations.
“Following the ceasefire... the latest IPC analysis indicates notable improvements in food security and nutrition compared to the August 2025 analysis, which detected famine,” the IPC said. Despite this progress, around 1.6 million people are still projected to face “crisis” levels of food insecurity through mid-April, and renewed hostilities or interruptions to aid could push parts of Gaza back toward famine.
UN agencies warned that despite the end of famine, hunger, malnutrition, disease, and the extensive destruction of farmland remain “alarmingly high.”
In a joint statement, the food, agriculture, health, and children’s agencies said, “Humanitarian needs remain staggering, with current assistance addressing only the most basic survival requirements. Only access, supplies and funding at scale can prevent famine from returning.”
The UN’s August famine declaration, the first in the Middle East, drew sharp criticism from Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled the report “an outright lie,” while foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein accused the IPC of presenting a “distorted” picture based primarily on data from UN trucks, which he said account for just 20 per cent of all aid deliveries.
Oxfam also condemned ongoing restrictions, stating that hunger in Gaza remains “appalling and preventable.”
Nicolas Vercken, Campaigns and Advocacy Director at Oxfam France, noted, “Oxfam alone has US$2.5 million worth of aid, including 4,000 food parcels, sitting in warehouses just across the border. Israeli authorities refuse it all.”
The IPC highlighted that challenges extend beyond hunger.
Access to water, sanitation, and hygiene is severely limited, overcrowding and open defecation increase disease risk, and over 96 per cent of Gaza’s cropland is damaged or inaccessible, with livestock decimated.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis. “It breaks my heart to see the ongoing scale of human suffering in Gaza,” he said.
“We need more crossings, the lifting of restrictions on critical items, the removal of red tape, safe routes inside Gaza, sustained funding, and unimpeded access — including for NGOs.”
Guterres also urged the international community not to overlook the West Bank, where Palestinians face escalating settler violence, land seizures, demolitions, and tighter movement restrictions, warning of a “rapidly deteriorating situation” across the occupied territories. - December 20, 2025
