ROME: Some 345,000 Gazans face “catastrophic” levels of hunger this winter after aid deliveries fell, a UN-backed assessment said Thursday, warning of the persistent risk of famine across the Palestinian territory.
This is up from the 133,000 people currently categorized as experiencing “catastrophic food insecurity,” according to a classification compiled by UN agencies and NGOs.
A surge in humanitarian assistance this summer had brought some relief to Gazans, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report said, but September saw the lowest volume of commercial and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since March.
As a result, it projected that the number of people experiencing catastrophic food insecurity — IPC Phase 5 — between November 2024 and April 2025 to reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.
The recent “sharp decline” in aid “will profoundly limit the ability of families to feed themselves and access essential goods and services in the coming months, unless reversed,” the report said.
The United States warned Israel on Tuesday that it could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military assistance unless it improves aid delivery to the Gaza Strip within 30 days.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, also warned Wednesday of the risk of famine in the territory, where vast areas have been devastated by Israel’s retaliatory assault launched after the October 7 attack last year by Hamas.
“The risk of famine between November 2024 and April 2025 persists as long as conflict continues, and humanitarian access is restricted,” the IPC report said.
“The extreme concentration of population in an ever-shrinking area, living in improvised shelters with intermittent access to humanitarian supplies and services, elevates the risk of epidemic outbreaks and deterioration into a catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude.
Intensified Israeli attacks and fresh evacuation orders were “already increasing the likelihood of this worst-case scenario occurring,” the report added.
An estimated 60,000 cases of acute malnutrition among children aged between six months and four years old are expected between November and April.
“To curb acute hunger and malnutrition, we must act now,” said Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
She said it was necessary to “immediately cease hostilities, restore humanitarian access to deliver critical and essential food aid and agricultural inputs in time for the upcoming winter crop planting season... to allow them to grow food.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, had said Wednesday that a lack of aid was not the problem, blaming Hamas for hijacking and stealing deliveries.

Addis Ababa: Clashes between Ethiopian federal forces and militias in the country’s north-west are placing fleeing Sudanese refugees at “grave risk,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday.
The Fano militia, based in Amhara state, is one of several regional groups battling the federal government since it vowed to crush paramilitary forces in April 2023.
A government state of emergency in Amhara, home to some 23 million people, expired in June but the unrest has continued, with a large contingent of federal forces deployed in September.
The region borders Sudan, itself embroiled in a civil war between the Rapid Support Forces and the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan since 2023, with tens of thousands fleeing.
“Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia have been targets of abuses for more than a year from various armed actors,” HRW’s deputy Africa director Laetitia Bader said.
“These refugees have fled horrific abuses back home and urgently need protection, not further threats to their lives.”
HRW said in a report that “armed men and local militias have committed murder, beatings, looting, kidnapping for ransom and forced labor” near two camps.
The abuses have been ongoing since June 2023, according to HRW, which conducted phone interviews with 20 refugees in three camps and a transit center earlier this year.
The rights body also accused the Ethiopian government of placing the camps in areas prone to local skirmishes prior to the outbreak of war in Sudan and yet still providing only “limited security.”
“We wanted to be safe when we left Sudan, but the beatings and robbery (in Ethiopia) were a lot for us to take,” a 45-year-old refugee told HRW.
“My kids were crying,” the refugee said, describing how the police and military beat them in front of their children.
“They started insulting us, saying if we didn’t want to stay in Ethiopia, then we should go back to our country, to Sudan.”
The individual, who was not named for their safety, said: “Every time the (Ethiopian authorities) promise something, nothing changes.”
HRW said it sent the report’s preliminary findings to Ethiopia’s refugee service, which acknowledged the camps were “relatively close to conflict areas” but said there was “adequate security.”
Escalating Amhara clashes prompted the closure of Awlala and Kumer camps in July, it added.