NEWS-FINANCE -QUOTE-EDUCATIONAL AND MOTIVATIONAL
Famine in Gaza City means “deaths will increase exponentially”, UN-backed organisation warns
Famine has been confirmed in Gaza City for the first time, a UN-backed body responsible for monitoring food security says.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Cl***ification (IPC) has raised its cl***ification to Phase 5, the highest and worst level of its acute food insecurity scale.
The report states:
The Famine Review Committee (FRC) has determined that Famine (IPC Phase 5) is now occurring in Gaza Governorate. Furthermore, the FRC projects Famine (IPC Phase 5) thresholds to be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.
As this Famine is entirely human-made, it can be halted and reversed. The time for debate and hesitation has p***ed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay-even by days-will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of Famine-related mortality.
If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies, and basic health, nutrition, and WASH services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.
The full report can be accessed here
Key events
Far more aid required to tackle the malnutrition threatening the lives of 130,000 Palestinian children, a children’s charity has warned
Plan International UK said in reaction to the IPC’s report that the Famine was an “entirely man-made hunger catastrophe that is killing Gazan children every day”
Kathleen Spencer Chapman, director of influencing and external Affairs at global children’s charity Plan International UK said:
While Plan International has recently delivered critically needed aid into Gaza, far more is required to prevent continued catastrophic loss of life. Until Israel ends its illegal blockade of life-saving aid at Gaza’s borders, children will continue to die painfully and needlessly.
The world cannot continue to look on while Gazan children and their families are deliberately starved to death. We renew our urgent calls for the end of all UK arms sales to Israel, an immediate and sustained ceasefire, and the complete lifting of Israel’s illegal blockade of humanitarian aid.
This must include dismantling the so-called ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ – a cruel deathtrap that has killed thousands simply seeking food and basic humanitarian ***istance.”
More than 2,700 food kits have items that have already expired or been lost due to political inaction, humanitarian organisation says
Mercy Corps said it had enough life saving aid to help 160,000 people but it has been “blocked for months”.
Mercy Corps chief executive officer, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, said in response to confirmation of the Famine:
This is the direct result of months of deliberate restrictions on aid, the destruction of Gaza’s food, health, and water systems, and relentless bombardment. This is a man-made catastrophe, entirely preventable and entirely unconscionable.
We’re watching our own team members waste away. They’re standing in food lines, skipping meals so their children can eat, and risking their lives daily just to find bread and water.
Mercy Corps has life-saving aid – enough to help 160,000 people – waiting for permission to enter Gaza. But it has been blocked for months. This includes food kits, hygiene supplies, and shelter materials, pre-positioned and waiting for clearance. Meanwhile, 2,700 of our food kits have items within them that have already expired, lost due to political inaction.”
Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, accuses Hamas of a “false starvation campaign”
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, accused Hamas of a “false starvation campaign” and said the U.N. and others were spreading unfounded claims about hunger in Gaza.
It comes after The IPC published its 59-page report, saying there should be “no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed” to unfolding Famine in Gaza.
Mothers in Gaza have resorted to using legume water and herbs as alternative to infant milk amid Famine, charity warns
Dr. Ra’ed Al-Baba, who works at Al Awda Hospital run by ActionAid’s partner Al-Awda, said usage of alternatives to infant milk had “catastrophic” consequences.
He said:
There are mothers who resort to using legume water, herbs, and other alternatives to infant milk because of the severe shortage. These methods carry catastrophic risks, causing gastroenteritis, food poisoning, delayed growth, severe anaemia, and even the inability to move. We have seen cases of extreme dehydration from polluted water mixed with these substitutes. This is not survival, this is slow death.”
Poland join international opposition to new settlement plan
Poland have joined 21 other countries in condemning Israel’s new illegal E1 settlement plan in the West Bank
It called it a “flagrant breach of international law”.
The statement added that Poland “advocates the two-state solution which implies the peaceful coexistence of Israel and Palestine within the 1967 borders, as confirmed by UN security council resolutions”.
The 3,400-home development has been condemned internationally and will cut off much of the occupied West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem while linking up thousands of illegal Israeli settlements in the area.
More than 20 countries, including the UK, Australia and Japan, released a joint statement on Thursday, condemning the plan, which they say makes a future two-state solution for Palestinians impossible.
Famine in Gaza confirmation is a “deep stain on our collective humanity,” charity says
ActionAid UK have urged the international community to use diplomatic pressure to bring about a permanent ceasefire after Famine was confirmed in Gaza by a UN backed body.
Taahra Ghazi, co-CEO of ActionAid UK, said:
There is now a race against time to stop this famine from becoming any further entrenched.
Every hour counts and there is no time to waste. The international community must take meaningful action and use diplomatic pressure to bring about a permanent ceasefire immediately.
Food and other aid must be allowed to enter Gaza unhindered, rapidly and at scale if there is to be any hope of preventing any more deaths by starvation.”
Famine in Gaza City means “deaths will increase exponentially”, UN-backed organisation warns
Famine has been confirmed in Gaza City for the first time, a UN-backed body responsible for monitoring food security says.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Cl***ification (IPC) has raised its cl***ification to Phase 5, the highest and worst level of its acute food insecurity scale.
The report states:
The Famine Review Committee (FRC) has determined that Famine (IPC Phase 5) is now occurring in Gaza Governorate. Furthermore, the FRC projects Famine (IPC Phase 5) thresholds to be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.
As this Famine is entirely human-made, it can be halted and reversed. The time for debate and hesitation has p***ed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay-even by days-will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of Famine-related mortality.
If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies, and basic health, nutrition, and WASH services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.
The full report can be accessed here
Israel releases latest data on aid entering Gaza yesterday
COGAT said more than 220 humanitarian trucks had entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings
The body published the figures this morning on X:
Humanitarian aid summary for August 21:
🚛📦Aid entry: Over 220 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
🛻📦Aid collection: Over 370 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations. The contents of… pic.twitter.com/CPpyj0FF1D
— COGAT (@cogatonline) August 22, 2025
Humanitarian situation reaching new depths, UK warns
Speaking on the crisis in Gaza, the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Hamish Falconer, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza has “reached new depths”, Sky reports.
He said:
“Israel must immediately and permanently lift all barriers preventing aid reaching the people of Gaza to prevent the horrifying starvation in the Strip continuing,” he said.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached new depths and that is why we are doing all we can to end the current suffering and change the situation on the ground.
We continue to support efforts to bring about an immediate ceasefire. We also need a comprehensive plan to end this misery and get to a long-term settlement that provides peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
Israel vows to destroy Gaza City if Hamas doesn’t disarm, free hostages
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has vowed to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel’s terms, reports AFP.
He wrote on social media:
Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” the minister posted on social media.
If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” he added, referring to two cities in Gaza largely razed during previous Israeli operations.
The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that he had ordered immediate negotiations aimed at freeing all the remaining hostages in Gaza to accompany the operation to take control of Gaza City and destroy the Hamas stronghold.
Earlier this week, the Israeli defence ministry authorised the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists to help seize Gaza City.
Here are some of the images that have come out of Gaza overnight and in the early hours of this morning:
Opening summary
Welcome to live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. It is 10.42 in Gaza City.
Here are some of the latest developments:
Israel’s plans to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. The Red Cross became the latest voice to condemn the plan on Thursday, calling it “intolerable”. The Israeli defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorises the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.
Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have urged Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to accept a proposed ceasefire deal, saying a failure to do so is “a death sentence for the living hostages and a sentence of disappearance for the deceased ones.”
In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighbourhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.
Children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza could die if emergency provisions are not immediately put in place during Israel’s Gaza City military operation, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency has warned. UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said its data showed a six-fold increase in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in Gaza City since March.
Israeli citizen Saleh Abu-Hussein, who was detained in Lebanon for about a year, has returned to Israel following negotiations with the help of the Red Cross, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. The prime minister’s office did not disclose details on the cir***stances of the citizen’s detention, according to Reuters.
Armed Palestinian groups in Lebanese refugee camps will start handing over their weapons to the authorities on Thursday, a joint committee said, following a deal reached in May. “Today marks the beginning of the first phase of the process of handing over weapons from inside the Palestinian camps,” Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee chairman Ramez Dimashkieh said in a statement.
The UK’s Foreign Office has summoned Israeli amb***ador Tzipi Hotovely over Tel Aviv’s approval of a major settlement plan in the West Bank.
Turkish port authorities have begun informally requiring shipping agents to provide letters declaring that vessels are not linked to Israel and not carrying military or hazardous cargo bound for the country, according to two shipping sources. The move is another step Turkey has taken against Israel after it last year severed trade with the country, worth $7bn (£5.20bn) annually, over its war in Gaza with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The UK has called on Israel to allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza as Tel Aviv prepares to step up military operations in the territory. In a statement alongside 25 other members of the Media Freedom Coalition, the UK urged Israel to “allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza”.
Britain imposed sanctions on one individual and four entities on Wednesday under its Iran sanctions regime, saying they are part of a network that supports Tehran’s overseas activities, including in Ukraine and Israel. The sanctions include an ***et freeze on Iranian oil magnate Hossein Shamkhani, and on four companies operating in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors, according to a government notice published online.
Iranian state television report said the nation’s first military exercise since the 12-day war with Israel involved a frigate IRIS Sabalan and a smaller vessel, the IRIS Ganaveh, which launched Nasir and Qadir cruise missiles at targets in the sea, striking them. Coastal batteries also opened fire as part of the exercise.
A group of 17 US senators sent a letter to secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday calling for the United States to press Israel to grant access and protection to journalists in Gaza. The letter comes one week after an Israeli strike killed a group of Palestinian journalists in the besieged territory.
Famine set to be officially declared in Gaza for first time by UN-backed group
A famine is set to be declared in Gaza by the international body responsible for monitoring world hunger.
The Guardian understands that the report will declare that the threshold for famine has been reached in Gaza City, in parts of the south and central areas of the territory but not in the north, where data is insufficient.
The situation in the northern areas of Gaza, which have been completely reduced to rubble in large part, is thought to be worse than in much of the rest of Gaza however, aid officials said.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Cl***ification (IPC) is a globally recognised system for cl***ifying the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition.
It has been used to declare just four famines since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year.
The organisation has previously warned famine is imminent in parts of Gaza, it has until now stopped short of making a formal declaration, citing a lack of hard data.
However, this morning, it is expected to formally declare a famine in Gaza City, the last remaining major built-up area of Gaza and home to some 500,000 people.
The Israeli government has consistently denied that famine is taking place in Gaza and is currently moving in on Gaza City.
In order to declare a famine, three strict criteria must be met: at least 20 per cent of households face an extreme lack of food, at least 30 per cent of children suffer acute malnutrition, and two people for every 10,000 die each day due to “outright starvation”.
