A dire humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels in the Gaza Strip, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issuing an urgent alert on Tuesday declaring that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” across the Palestinian territory. The IPC findings reveal that famine thresholds have been reached for food consumption across most of the Gaza Strip and for acute malnutrition specifically in Gaza City.

The alert comes as mounting evidence shows widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a surge in hunger-related deaths, with famine thresholds already breached in multiple areas.

The scale of human suffering has reached unprecedented levels. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Tuesday that the death toll from the conflict has climbed to 60,034 Palestinians, with an additional 145,870 wounded since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. The ministry, staffed by medical professionals and whose figures are considered the most reliable casualty count by the United Nations and independent experts, indicates that women and children comprise approximately half of those killed.

Malnutrition rates have soared to critical levels, with over 20,000 children admitted for acute malnutrition treatment between April and mid-July 2025, including more than 3,000 severely malnourished. The situation in Gaza City has become particularly dire, where acute malnutrition prevalence among children under five skyrocketed from 4.4 percent in May to 16.5 percent in early July, reaching the famine threshold.

The humanitarian emergency has been compounded by massive displacement, with 325,000 additional people forced from their homes since mid-May. According to UN data, approximately 88 percent of Gaza’s territory is now under Israeli military evacuation orders or designated as militarized zones, confining the population to just 12 percent of the territory. Nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents have been displaced during the war, with many forced to relocate multiple times.

The collapse of basic infrastructure has been devastating. Seventy percent of critical water infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, while most bakeries have ceased operations. Community kitchens, though still functioning, operate at vastly insufficient capacity to meet overwhelming needs.

Humanitarian assistance has been severely constrained throughout the conflict. Following an 80-day complete blockade that ended in May, only a fraction of needed aid has entered Gaza. While an estimated minimum of 62,000 metric tons of staple food is required monthly to cover basic needs, only 19,900 metric tons and 37,800 metric tons entered in May and June respectively.

The situation has been further complicated by dangerous conditions at aid distribution sites. Since May 27, over 1,000 people have been killed while attempting to access food, many near militarized distribution sites operated by the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Despite claims of distributing 89 million meals, most food items distributed are not ready-to-eat and require water and fuel for cooking.

In a notable shift, President Donald Trump acknowledged the severity of the crisis, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that there is no starvation in Gaza.

“It’s a — it’s a terrible situation. The whole thing is terrible. It’s been bad for many years,” Trump said Monday.

Also Monday, Trump said, “…just a couple of weeks ago, we gave $60 million. That’s a lot of money. No other nation gave money. I know the prime minister would if he knew about it and he really knows about it now because we’re going to be discussing it. But we gave $60 million, nobody said even, thank you. You know, thanks. Somebody should say thank you. But other nations are going to have to step up. When I spoke to Ursula yesterday, she said that the European nations are going to step up very substantially, too.”

The European Union committed €170 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestine in 2025 alone, bringing total EU humanitarian aid to €500 million since 2023. Multiple European countries, Arab states, and international organizations have provided significant humanitarian aid to Gaza

Multiple aid organizations have called for opening all border crossings and allowing humanitarian organizations to safely deliver assistance at scale. 

In the States, 22 Senate Democrats have urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately suspend all U.S. financing for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), warning that the private, U.S.– and Israeli-backed aid scheme has become a “death trap” for starving Palestinians and a liability for American taxpayers.

In a six-page letter sent late Monday, Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and 19 colleagues allege that GHF’s militarized distribution model has contributed to the deaths of more than 700 civilians and injuries to nearly 5,000 others since the new system replaced United Nations channels in late May. They fault the State Department for green-lighting a $30 million grant to the fledgling organization despite internal USAID warnings of “critical concerns” over oversight, neutrality and the risk of diversion of aid.

The lawmakers cite public reporting and eyewitness accounts of tanks, drones, helicopters and U.S. security contractors firing on desperate crowds at or near the four GHF sites, all located in southern Gaza evacuation zones.

By blending armed security forces with food delivery, GHF “shatters well-established norms that have governed distribution of humanitarian aid since the Geneva Conventions,” the senators write, echoing a June 27 rebuke by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who said the operation “is killing people.”

The Trump administration exempted GHF from the standard first-time USAID audit and bypassed statutory requirements to brief Congress or certify anti-terror vetting before releasing funds, according to the letter.

The senators demand answers within two weeks on issues ranging from casualty assessments and waiver authorities to potential export-license violations for the contractors’ weaponry. They also ask whether any U.S. nationals employed by SRS or UG have engaged in hostilities and whether additional funds are pending for GHF or its security partners.

Launched in February, GHF was promoted by the White House as an “innovative” workaround to Israeli claims that Hamas steals U.N. aid. But the project has been dogged by resignations, lethal incidents, and international backlash.

Founding executive director Jake Wood, a U.S. Marine veteran, quit hours before the first distribution, saying it was “not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”

The U.N. human-rights office has confirmed 674 deaths near GHF hubs through July 13, out of 875 aid-related fatalities across Gaza. Local health officials put the toll even higher, surpassing 740 by early July.

The $30 million U.S. tranche, approved June 26, represents GHF’s first confirmed government subsidy. Officials told Reuters the group could receive additional monthly grants of the same size, potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The letter asks the State Department to identify all other current and future donors.