The city of Gaza and the surroundings officially suffer from famine, and the crisis will probably propagate, a monitor of world hunger said on Friday, an evaluation that will increase pressure on Israel to allow more aid to the enclave.
The integrated classification of the food security phase (IPC) said that 514,000 people – almost a quarter of the Gaza population – experience famine, the number which should reach 641,000 at the end of September.
Some 280,000 of them are in the governorate of Gaza, covering Gaza City, which, according to the IPC, was in famine after almost two years of war between Israel and Hamas. It was the first time that the IPC has recorded famine outside Africa. The group predicted that the famine conditions would spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of next month.
The IPC added that the conditions in the north of Gaza could be even worse than in the city of Gaza, but said that limited data prevented a precise classification.
Water
Israel plans to cut water supply north of Gaza while repairing pipelines in the south in preparation to force Palestinians to leave Gaza City as part of a wider plan to occupy the enclave.
Find out more: Israel is starting to beat the city of Gaza
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs this decision while Israeli forces pursue deadly attacks across the city, Anadoli agency reportedquoting the public broadcaster Israel Kan.
The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz also threatened to destroy the city of Gaza if Hamas refuses to disarm, release hostages and accept Israel’s conditions to end the war.
אישרנו אתמול את תוכניות צה”ל להכרעת החמאס בעזה – באש עצימה, בפינ supplied תושבים ובתמרון.
בקרוב ייפתחו שערי הגיהנום על ראשם מרצחי ואנס taken
אם סכ יסכימ Oise – עזה בירת החמאס תהפוך לרפיח ובית חאנון. בדיוק…– ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@israel_katz) August 22, 2025
“Soon, the doors of hell will open on the leaders of the murderers and rapists from Hamas to Gaza – until they accept the conditions of Israel to end the war, mainly the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” wrote Katz on social networks.
“If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he added, referring to two cities of Gaza, largely reduced to the rubble in the previous Israeli offensives.
Netanyahu swore on Thursday to give the final approval of the takeover of Gaza City while restarting negotiations with Hamas to guarantee the release of remaining captives and to end the war on the conditions of Israel.
The Palestinian Ministry of the Interior denounced the thrust of Israel to seize the city of Gaza as a “death sentence” for more than a million residents.
Israel hammered the city of Gaza and its periphery overnight, when the army announced that it had taken the first measures in its push to capture the last major bastion of Hamas.
The newly approved plan authorizes the call of around 60,000 reservists, deepening the fears that the campaign aggravates the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Ministry of Health rejected what he described as Israeli efforts to transfer the resources of the health system to the south of the enclave.
Read: International media organizations meet as journalists in Gaza faced with famine
“This step would deprive more than a million people from their right to treatment and would bring the lives of residents, patients and injured at risk of imminent,” said the ministry in a statement transported by Al Jazeera.
The Palestinians inspect the damage on the site of an Israeli strike on a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza. Photo-red
Israeli strikes kill 25 since dawn
At least 25 Palestinians, including three children, were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza since dawn, the heaviest bombings reported west of Gaza City and east of Deir El-Balah in the Central Strip, local authorities announced.
Hamas has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not taking into account international mediation efforts for a cease-fire and continuing with the military occupation of Gaza City.
Meanwhile, 83% of people killed in the War of Israel against Gaza were civilians, according to classified figures for Israeli military intelligence quoted by the Guardian, the +972 magazine and the local call.
Coalitions Press Israel on access to the media in Gaza
The Media Freedom Coalition, a block of more than 50 countries, has urged Israel to authorize immediate access to foreign media in Gaza and to ensure the protection of journalists, Al Jazeera reported.
Find out more: Pakistan joins “Global Sumud Flotilla” for Gaza Aid
“Journalists and media workers play an essential role in highlighting the devastating reality of war,” the coalition said in a statement signed by members such as Australia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
He also condemned “the extremely high number of deaths, arrests and detention” of journalists since the start of the war.
In addition, 21 countries, including Great Britain, France, Australia, Canada and Italy, have signed a joint declaration denouncing the approval by Israel of a major plan for the West Bank or “unacceptable and violation of international law”, reported AFP.
Foreign Ministers have warned that the plan, defended by the Minister of Far -right Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, would divide a future Palestinian state and limit Palestinian access to Jerusalem, making a two -state solution impossible.
“This does not bring any advantage to the Israeli people,” the statement said. “Instead, it may undermine security and feed violence and instability.”
Read also: Israeli forces begin a new military operation in Gaza
The ministers have urged Israel to immediately stop the project, known as the E1 plan, and warned that its continuation would push more out of reach peace efforts.
The War of Israel against Gaza
The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 58,667 Palestinians, including 17,400 children. More than 139,974 people were injured and more than 14,222 are missing and presumed dead.
Last November, the International Criminal Court published arrest mandates against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Yoav Gallant Minister of Defense for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for his war against the enclave. The proposed agreement includes a break in hostilities, increased humanitarian aid and negotiations on the release of captives.
