A United Nations-backed panel of food-security experts has formally declared a famine in Gaza City and surrounding districts, marking the first such determination in the Middle East and only the fifth worldwide since the IPC system was created in 2004. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said its latest analysis, released 22 August, shows that more than 500,000 people—nearly one quarter of Gaza’s population—have crossed the threshold into IPC Phase 5, meaning they face starvation, destitution and death. The IPC found that all three famine criteria—extreme food scarcity, acute malnutrition and excess mortality—have been breached. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that hunger-related deaths have climbed to at least 289, among them 115 children, up from 271 earlier in the week. The food-security body projects that the number of people in famine conditions will rise to about 641,000 by the end of September unless access improves. UN agencies including FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO described the crisis as “entirely man-made” and called for an immediate cease-fire and unrestricted humanitarian corridors to avert further loss of life. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine "could have been avoided" without what he termed the “systematic obstruction” of relief supplies at Gaza’s borders. Israel strongly contested the assessment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office labelled the IPC findings “an outright lie,” while Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Gaza City could meet the fate of Rafah and Beit Hanoun—both largely destroyed earlier in the war—unless Hamas accepts Israel’s terms for a cease-fire and releases all remaining hostages. The declaration is expected to intensify diplomatic pressure on Israel and on donor governments to scale up aid deliveries to the enclave, now in its 22nd month of conflict.