Overview of IPC Classification Trends in Gaza The IPC trend analysis (Figure 1) reveals that, since late 2023, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s residents have been living in Crisis (IPC Phase 3), and the share of the population living in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) has steadily climbed. The proportion of households in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) spiked in mid-2024 at around 50 percent, coinciding with the harshest restrictions on humanitarian access, when almost no food convoys were permitted by Israel to enter Gaza. Although a temporary easing of hostilities in early 2025 allowed for modest improvements, the resumption of conflict and renewed restrictions quickly reversed those gains. On August 22, 2025, famine conditions were officially confirmed in Gaza City Governorate and, without immediate action, are projected to spread to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates.85 Under the IPC system, Phase 5 (Catastrophe/Famine) represents the most extreme level of food insecurity. At the household level, it means people face an extreme lack of food, starvation, and near-total collapse of coping capacity. At the geographical area level, IPC defines “Famine” when an area has at least 20 percent of households facing an extreme lack of food, at least 30 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition, and at least two people for every 10,000 dying each day due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease.86 Figure 1: Progression of Acute Food Insecurity in Gaza (November 2023 – September 2025) Source: The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification The consequences of the nearly two-year siege on Gaza cannot be overstated. By early September 2025, the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) had reported nearly 64,000 deaths, half of whom are women and children.14 In 2025, a Lancet study found that the Gaza MoH has likely underestimated fatalities by approximately 41 percent15 and a 2024 Lancet correspondence purports that fatalities from indirect causes such as starvation, disease, and lack of healthcare are likely three to fifteen times higher than direct combat deaths.16 According to the Gaza MoH, of the 313 malnutrition-related deaths since October 2023, 248 occurred between July 1 and August 27, 2025.17 Since March 2025, over 10,000 traumatic deaths have been reported, of which 1,859 occurred while civilians were attempting to access food or humanitarian aid, suggesting that nearly one in every five deaths (18.2 percent) is linked directly to food insecurity and deprivation.18 7