Despite mounting international concern over widespread hunger in Gaza, no official famine has been declared in the territory – highlighting the complexities of determining a country's famine status.
The World Food Programme (WFP), Unicef and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned this week that time is running out, with Gaza "on the brink of a full-scale famine".
"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement from the agencies.
Images of severely undernourished children have prompted outrage. According to data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), one in five children under the age of five in Gaza City is now malnourished.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health has reported 147 deaths from hunger, including 88 children, since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted following the 7 October 2023 terror attack.
However, there has been no official determination or declaration of famine, leading to questions over whether one exists.
Determining a famine
The United Nations uses a tool called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to measure hunger. Created in 2004, the IPC is used by 21 agencies, including the WFP and Unicef.
It sets out five levels of food insecurity, with Phase 5 meaning famine or catastrophe.
Three things must happen at the same time for famine to be declared:
- At least 2 people per 10,000 (or 4 per 10,000 children) die daily of starvation, disease and malnutrition
- At least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages
- At least 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition
Even if those thresholds appear to be met, an independent review committee must confirm it. This panel includes experts in nutrition, health and food security. Only then can a formal declaration be made – usually by the government of the affected area or the UN.
"It's a very high bar and the nature of the process is that if the data aren't there, you say it's not a famine," Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, told the ABC. "It has no legal force. The word 'famine' has no meaning in law."
As of June 2025, Sudan is the only country currently experiencing famine, according to the IPC.
First confirmed in North Darfur’s Zamzam camp for displaced people in August, 2024, famine has since spread to 10 areas of the country, with another 17 at risk.
More than 110 aid and human rights groups denounce Gaza 'mass starvation'
Data collection challenges
The IPC puts Gaza at Phase 4 (emergency) across the territory, with half a million people projected to reach Phase 5 by September.
Earlier this month, the IPC issued an alert warning that the "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out," though this falls short of an official classification.
Collecting the necessary data to determine whether a country is officially suffering from famine requires the systematic surveying of populations to measure malnutrition rates and mortality.
Israel's partial blockade on delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has not only contributed to the risk of famine, the conflict and restrictions on international media have made gathering data near-impossible, aid agencies say.
"Our colleagues in Gaza right now are trying to work under bombardment with no guarantee of safety," Scott Paul, director of peace and security at Oxfam America, told the ABC.
"Aid workers conducting assessments face the same dire conditions as the general population, including food shortages and restricted movement."
Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration
Politics has also affected how famine is assessed.
Doctors Without Borders has accused Israel of using “deliberate starvation” as a weapon of war.
Israeli officials have pushed back on that, questioning the accuracy of the figures and suggesting the viral images of emaciated children are misleading.
"In most cases, their extreme malnutrition is due to underlying medical conditions rather than food scarcity alone," a spokesperson for the Israeli army told Le Point magazine.
Israel also argues that previous IPC warnings proved inaccurate, noting that predictions of imminent famine in March 2024, and then again in March of this year, failed to materialise. By June, the World Health Organization had recorded 32 hunger-related deaths – far below projections.
Even so, many aid groups say action should not be delayed just because a formal famine has not been declared.
In Somalia in 2012, around half of the 250,000 famine deaths happened before the official announcement was made.
"The importance of taking action before famine is declared cannot be overstated," Paul said, adding that severely malnourished individuals may be harmed by certain foods if distribution is not carefully managed.
