There is no longer famine in Gaza, a global hunger monitor said on Friday (December 19), after access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries improved following a fragile October 10 ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants.

The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification comes four months after it reported that 514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip - were experiencing famine. The IPC warned on Friday that the situation in the enclave remained critical.

"Under a worst-case scenario, which would include renewed hostilities and a halt in humanitarian and commercial inflows, the entire Gaza Strip (would be) at risk of famine through mid-April 2026. This underscores the severe and ongoing humanitarian crisis," the IPC said in the report.

Israel controls all access to the coastal enclave. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, in August disputed that there was famine in Gaza. COGAT says 600-800 trucks have entered Gaza daily since the start of the truce in October, and that food made up 70% of all those supplies.

COGAT rejected the report's findings.

"The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. As such, it misleads the international community, fuels disinformation and presents a false depiction of the reality on the ground."

Israel's Foreign Ministry said that far more aid was going into Gaza than what was reflected in the report and that food prices there had dropped sharply since July.

Hamas disputes Israel's aid figures, saying far fewer than 600 trucks a day have made it into Gaza. Aid agencies have repeatedly said far more aid needs to get into the small, crowded territory and have said Israel is blocking needed items from entering, which Israel denies.

In Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, doctors fear for Arjwan al-Dahini, age 4, and Yasser Arafat, 6. Both children are critically ill with severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous stage of hunger, said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra.

Arjwan's mother, Hanin, said her child had not been sick before the war when she walked and played with her brothers. As the family struggled to find food, Arjwan stopped walking and growing and has lost around half her body weight, Hanin said.

“My husband’s arm was amputated and we have no income or anyone to provide for us. How am I supposed to provide for Arjwan and buy her food? I can barely manage to get by,” she said.

Arafat’s brother already died of malnutrition, said Farra, the doctor, and his father is unwell and malnourished too. His mother, Iman, said the family had been unable to buy eggs or other high-protein foods. “He doesn’t run around like other children do. His height remains the same. He’s short,” she said.

The head of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Mohammed Abu Selmia, said medics had noticed an improvement but that malnutrition was still very widespread. Of 6,000 children screened by the Health Ministry, around 1,000 were malnourished and 100 of them required hospitalization, he said.

“The Gaza Strip has not witnessed any significant improvement in malnutrition or famine,” he said, pointing to a lack of affordable foodstuffs rich in protein and fats. Many babies are born in poor health in Gaza, he said, causing long-term worries about their future.

Antoine Renard, the top U.N. World Food Programme official in Gaza and the West Bank, said there were signs of improvement in the dire hunger situation in Gaza.

"I can confirm to you that people are having on average two meals per day, which is very different if I look, it was only one meal per day in July," he told reporters on Thursday (December 18).

However, he said it was "a constant struggle" to get streamlined access to Gaza at scale and speed with humanitarian and commercial trucks facing congestion at the border crossings.

The United Nations and aid groups also warned on Wednesday (December 17) that humanitarian operations in Gaza were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized" registration process.

The International Rescue Committee’s Zoe Daniels said high food prices meant it was hard for many people in Gaza to obtain enough high-quality food even when it was available in the market, while Jolien Veldwijk of CARE said the situation in Gaza had not improved as much as it should have.

"People are relying on canned food that is pre-cooked or community kitchens, and they don’t hold the nutritional value that is needed for people to recover from malnutrition," Veldwijk said.

The IPC said five famines have been confirmed in the past 15 years: in Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and 2020, Sudan in 2024, and most recently in Gaza in August.

For a region to be classified as in famine at least 20% of people must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or malnutrition and disease.

"No areas are classified in famine," the IPC said of Gaza on Friday. "The situation remains highly fragile and is contingent on sustained, expanded and consistent humanitarian and commercial access."

Even if a region has not been classified as in famine because those thresholds have not been met, the IPC can determine households are suffering catastrophic conditions, which it describes as an extreme lack of food, starvation and significantly increased risks of acute malnutrition and death.

The IPC said on Friday that more than 100,000 people in Gaza were experiencing catastrophic conditions, but projected that figure to decline to around 1,900 people by April 2026. It said the entire Gaza Strip was classified in an emergency phase, one step below catastrophic conditions.

"Over the next 12 months, across the entire Gaza Strip, nearly 101,000 children aged 6–59 months are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require treatment, with more than 31,000 severe cases," the IPC said.

"During the same period, 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will also face acute malnutrition and require treatment," it said.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Gaza no longer in famine after aid access improves, hunger monitor says

VIDEO SHOWS: PALESTINIAN MOTHERS WITH THEIR CHILDREN IN TENTS AND HOSPITAL IN GAZA'S KHAN YOUNIS / MARKET IN GAZA CITY / COMMENTS FROM MOTHERS, DIRECTOR OF PAEDIATRICS DEPARTMENT AT NASSER HOSPITAL, DIRECTOR OF AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC) COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, CARE'S COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN GAZA, AND U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME REPRESENTATIVE IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT.

SHOWS: KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (DECEMBER 16, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. TENTS FOR DISPLACED PALESTINIANS

2. SIX-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN, YASSER ARAFAT, WALKING WITH HIS SISTER

3. YASSER’S FEET AS HE WALKS

4. YASSER'S MOTHER, IMAN ARAFAT, GIVING YASSER TO DRINK WATER

5. YASSER'S FEET AS HE LIES DOWN

6. YASSER RESTING HIS HEAD ON PILE OF BLANKETS

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MOTHER, IMAN ARAFAT, 32, SAYING:

“My son is not very active, he doesn't run around much or play with other children. He doesn’t run around like other children do. His height remains the same. He’s short - he's not getting taller. His head is bigger than the size of his body. My son remains like this, as you see, he can't go out like the other children to play with them or anything. A while ago, I lost my son - during 45 days, (he suffered from) the same condition of malnutrition. My son was also swollen and they couldn't transfer him outside (of Gaza), he was also suffering from (lack of) protein, he had no protein at all, his albumin was always low. I suffered for two years with him, the elder, until he died.”

8. IMAN SITTING WITH HER SONS

9. VARIOUS OF IMAN LOOKING AT PICTURES ON HER PHONE OF HER LATE SON

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MOTHER, IMAN ARAFAT, 32, SAYING:

“When eggs, milk, and meat became available, we couldn't buy them because his father is very ill, also the same. We don’t know what to do in this case, none of the doctors I've consulted have been able to diagnose my husband's condition, nor the condition of my two sons. The eldest has passed away, and I'm not prepared to lose the other one as well.”

11. PALESTINIAN MOTHER, HANIN AL-DAHINI, ENTERING MEDICAL EXAMINATION ROOM AT NASSER HOSPITAL WITH HER FOUR-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER ARJWAN AL-DAHINI

12. VARIOUS OF ARJWAN BEING EXAMINED

13. HANIN SITTING WITH ARJWAN ON HER LAP

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MOTHER, HANIN AL-DAHINI, 33, SAYING:

“My daughter suffers from severe malnutrition and acidosis. My daughter is four years old and she weighs no more than five kilograms. My daughter does not walk and her growth is stagnant. I noticed this a year and a half ago; since the beginning of the war, there's no food with the closure of crossings... Arjwan started to get tired from the beginning of the war. Arjwan was fine, her weight was excellent, she used to walk, she used to move, she used to play with her brothers. All of this stopped. Until this moment, Arjwan is four years old and she doesn't walk, her weight does not exceed five kilograms, and she has no protein (in her body).”

15. ARJWAN BEING FED

16. HANIN FEEDING HER DAUGHTER ARJWAN

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MOTHER, HANIN AL-DAHINI, 33, SAYING:

“Arjwan used to weigh 11 kilograms. From 11 kilograms to five kilograms. Even now, it is true there are fruits, meat and everything; but the prices are still high. We can't afford to buy (anything). My husband's arm was amputated and we have no income or anyone to provide for us. How am I supposed to provide for Arjwan and buy her food? I can barely manage to get by. The situation is difficult.”

18. HANIN SHOWING ON HER PHONE A PICTURE OF ARJWAN BEFORE SHE FELL SICK / ARJWAN CRYING IN HER MOTHER’S ARMS

19. HANIN SHOWING ON HER PHONE A PICTURE OF ARJWAN BEFORE SHE FELL SICK

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (DECEMBER 17, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF PAEDIATRICS DEPARTMENT AT NASSER HOSPITAL, AHMED AL-FARRA, SAYING:

"...Yasser Arafat. The other one is Arjwan al-Dahini - Arjwan al-Dahini, she is five years old, she has to be 18 kilograms, but nowadays she is just five kilograms. I think Arjwan al-Dahini - she has severe acute malnutrition, with nutritional edema and she is in critical condition. These are two examples for severe acute malnutrition, I think we will still have these cases, and we will find these cases increasing in numbers, while protein is not so available in Gaza in this time."

21. PEOPLE AT NASSER HOSPITAL

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF PAEDIATRICS DEPARTMENT AT NASSER HOSPITAL, AHMED AL-FARRA, SAYING:

"The patient Yasser Arafat is complaining (suffering) from severe acute malnutrition, with a nutritional edema and the nutritional edema is one of the severe type of severe acute malnutrition. Yasser Arafat is nearly five years old, or six years old - he has to be 18 kilograms, but his weight is just ten kilograms. Yasser Arafat lost his brother in Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital by severe acute malnutrition, even his father is complaining (suffering) from a nutritional edema and was admitted in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.”

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (DECEMBER 16, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

23. HANIN AL-DAHINI WITH HER DAUGHTER ARJWAN

24. ARJWAN CRYING

GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

25. DIRECTOR OF AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL, MOHAMMED ABU SELMIA, AT HIS OFFICE

26. SELMIA SIGNING PAPERS

27. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL, MOHAMMED ABU SELMIA, SAYING:

"More than two months (have passed) since the ceasefire, and more than five or four months since the famine was declared in the Gaza Strip by international organisations, according to the IPC classification. During these two months since the ceasefire, the Gaza Strip has not witnessed any significant improvement in malnutrition or famine. The quantities and types of foodstuff entering Gaza remain limited and scarce, and the quality of these supplies does not meet the needs of malnourished patients, especially children, women, and patients with chronic illnesses.”

28. VARIOUS OF MARKET IN GAZA CITY

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 17, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

29. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC) COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, ZOE DANIELS, SAYING:

“When people have consistent access to adequate food, therapeutic or supplementary nutrition, and basic health care, then functional recovery and some weight gain can begin within a few days, and then there'd be steady improvement over the following weeks. However, recovery can take much longer if the (mal)nutrition is severe, if it's been prolonged, or compounded by illness, infection, or ongoing food insecurity. This really underscores the importance of the need for sustained access to care and nutritious food, even after people have started having initial treatment for malnutrition.”

AMMAN, JORDAN (DECEMBER 17, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

30. VARIOUS OF CARE'S COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN GAZA, JOLIEN VELDWIJK, TAKING NOTES IN OFFICE

31. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARE'S COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN GAZA, JOLIEN VELDWIJK, SAYING:

“The situation in Gaza, unfortunately, across the Strip has not improved as much as one would hope since the ceasefire started about two months ago. It's actually very painful to see that, still, our humanitarian supplies are not coming in and not providing supplies for free to the people of Gaza.”

32. VARIOUS OF VELDWIJK USING LAPTOP

33. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARE'S COUNTRY DIRECTOR IN GAZA, JOLIEN VELDWIJK, SAYING:

"You know, people are relying on canned food that is pre-cooked or community kitchens, and they don't hold the nutritional value that is needed for people to recover from malnutrition.”

GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

34. VARIOUS OF MARKET ON GAZA

UNITED NATIONS (DECEMBER 18, 2025) (WFP - Must on-screen courtesy WFP) (MUTE)

35. PRESS BRIEFING ROOM DURING STATEMENT FOR WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME REPRESENTATIVE IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK ANTOINE RENARD

GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 18, 2025) (WFP - Must on-screen courtesy WFP)

36. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME REPRESENTATIVE IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK, ANTOINE RENARD, SAYING:

"I can confirm to you that people are having on average two meals per day, which is very different if I look, it was only one meal per day in July."

UNITED NATIONS (DECEMBER 18, 2025) (WFP - Must on-screen courtesy WFP) (MUTE)

37. PRESS BRIEFING ROOM DURING RENARD'S STATEMENT

GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 18, 2025) (WFP - Must on-screen courtesy WFP)

38. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME REPRESENTATIVE IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK, ANTOINE RENARD, SAYING:

"It is worth to highlight the fact that the situation has improved in terms of access to food, but the living conditions in Gaza remain very dire.”

GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 15, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

34. VARIOUS OF MARKET ON GAZA