Overview

• The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed famine in Gaza Governorate, estimating 514,000 people now in famine and projecting 641,000 by end-September, the first such finding in the enclave and the first outside Africa.
• The IPC warns conditions are likely to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis next month, while limited access prevented a full classification for North Gaza.
• Israel’s government and COGAT rejected the assessment as false and biased, arguing it relied on partial Hamas-supplied data and overlooked recent increases in aid and market supplies.
• U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres labeled the famine a man-made disaster and urged an immediate ceasefire and unfettered humanitarian access, as the U.N. rights chief cautioned starvation deaths could amount to war crimes.
• Israeli leaders have approved plans to seize Gaza City, with Defense Minister Israel Katz threatening to destroy the city unless Hamas accepts conditions, a move aid agencies warn would deepen the humanitarian catastrophe.