A charity distribution point in Gaza City on July 25.
Photographer: Ahmad Salem/BloombergHow Gaza Descended Into a Hunger Crisis, Explained
The US and Israel tried to replace the UN’s aid delivery network. A humanitarian disaster ensued.
Food insecurity — long a problem in the impoverished, resource-poor Gaza Strip — was significantly worsened by the outbreak of war in October 2023 between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the US, the European Union and many other countries. The situation grew more precarious in March, when Israel suspended aid deliveries. A new distribution system it established with the US has been plagued by problems, and aid groups have been warning of spreading starvation. Under pressure even from its close allies, Israel has facilitated the delivery of more food.
Gaza is on the brink of famine, according to a July 29 update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership (IPC), a United Nations-backed monitor that regularly reports on food insecurity globally. The IPC said that two of three famine thresholds had been reached — plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition. The third threshold measures deaths from malnutrition.