According to the latest findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), there have been notable improvements in food security and nutrition in the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire in October and a significant reduction in conflict. Yet, the situation remains critical. In August, the IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) had confirmed a human-made famine in the Gaza governorate, where over half a million people were experiencing famine.
The IPC analysis issued on Friday notes that, although famine conditions have since been offset, about 1.6 million Gazans are still expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity through mid-April of next year. This includes over 570,000 people facing emergency levels (IPC 4) and over 1 million facing crisis levels (IPC 3).
The report also projects that through mid-October of next year more than 100,000 children under five, as well as 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, will require treatment for acute malnutrition.
According to the IPC, no child in Gaza meets the minimum dietary diversity standard, and two-thirds of children suffer from severe food poverty. The onset of winter and related diseases, combined with poor sanitation and hygiene conditions and limited access to safe, diverse food, only exacerbates vulnerability to malnutrition.
The situation is expected to remain severe in the coming months. Though, the population facing the most extreme conditions (IPC Phase 5) is projected to decline to around 1,900 people through mid-April 2026. As of December, no areas are classified as famine zones.
However, under a worst-case scenario, which would include renewed hostilities and a halt in humanitarian and commercial inflows, the entire Gaza Strip could face famine through mid-April 2026.
The IPC stressed that the situation remains highly fragile and contingent on sustained, expanded, and consistent humanitarian and commercial access, underscoring the severity of the ongoing humanitarian emergency.
On Friday, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners once again called for safe, sustained, and unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial goods so that life-saving assistance and critical supplies can reach those in need and essential services can continue to operate.
UN agencies, NGOs urge immediate lifting of impediments to aid operations
On Wednesday, UN agencies and over 200 international and local NGOs called on the international community to take immediate and concrete action to pressure the Israeli authorities to remove all obstacles to NGO operations and humanitarian access throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza.
In a statement, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) warned that restrictive policies, including a new registration system for international NGOs (INGOs) that relies on "vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized criteria," are undermining relief efforts and risking the collapse of the humanitarian response.
The Israeli system imposes requirements that humanitarian organizations cannot meet without violating international legal obligations or compromising core humanitarian principles.
The humanitarian actors stressed that essential supplies, such as food, medicine, hygiene items, and shelter materials, remain blocked from entering Gaza. They also noted that dozens of international NGOs face deregistration and forced closure by the end of the year.
The loss of NGO capacity would severely disrupt life-saving services, including healthcare, nutrition treatment, water and sanitation, and emergency shelter, at a time when the need is acute and there are no alternatives.
Scale-up of humanitarian assistance continues
Meanwhile, UN agencies and NGOs in Gaza continue to scale up assistance across the territory, despite numerous challenges. They are focusing on providing winter support to mitigate the impact of harsh weather conditions.
Since the ceasefire took effect in mid-October, aid agencies have distributed multi-purpose cash assistance to nearly 139,000 households, compared with over 40,000 in September. Altogether, more than 305,000 households in the Gaza Strip have received at least one payment this year.
From October 10 to December 16, over 119,000 metric tons of UN-coordinated aid were offloaded at Gaza’s crossings. Of this amount, more than 111,000 metric tons were collected during the same period.
On Thursday, the WFP shared that, following two consecutive months of expanded operations in the Gaza Strip, it reached over 1 million people in October and 1.8 million in November. As of mid-December, the UN agency had reached nearly 500,000 people with food and digital cash assistance.
Since the ceasefire, WFP has mobilized nearly 70,000 metric tons of food through the three operational crossings, enabling deliveries across southern, central, and northern Gaza. The UN agency continues to push forward to expand operations across all areas of Gaza.
On Tuesday, NGOs providing education services distributed hygiene materials to over 90 temporary learning spaces across the Strip, benefiting nearly 115,000 school-age children. These supplies are particularly critical during the rainy winter season as they improve sanitation conditions and reduce health risks in overcrowded spaces.
Health aid agencies report that constraints affecting the entry of emergency medical teams into Gaza have eased somewhat in recent weeks. Denial rates have fallen to approximately 20 percent, down from 30 to 35 percent prior to the ceasefire. Currently, there are more than 340 emergency medical team staff in Gaza.
International law continues to be disregarded with impunity
However, humanitarian and human rights organizations underline that Israel is deliberately failing to provide the relief required by international law and preventing necessary supplies from reaching Gaza's civilian population at scale.
Israel's military remains deployed in over 50 percent of the Gaza Strip, beyond the so-called "Yellow Line," which is largely unmarked on the ground. Access to humanitarian facilities, public infrastructure, and agricultural land remains severely restricted or prohibited there.
The October 10 ceasefire allowed many humanitarian organizations to resume operations in previously inaccessible areas and expand aid and service delivery. Yet, Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the ceasefire by launching heavy air bombardments on the territory, killing nearly 400 civilians.
The ceasefire deal was reached as more than two million civilians in Gaza were in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe, with famine ravaging parts of the territory. The situation had further deteriorated due to the obstruction of essential supplies.
For about six months, Israel had effectively blocked or hindered the entry of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza. This led to mounting reports of widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease, resulting in an increase in hunger-related deaths.
Since October 2023, over 240,000 Palestinians, primarily civilians, have been killed, injured, or maimed in Israeli military operations. The recorded death toll exceeds 70,600, including over 20,000 children, and the overall number of injuries has surpassed 171,000. However, the actual number of casualties is believed to be much higher.
According to UN commissions, international and Israeli human rights organizations, human rights experts, and leading genocide scholars, Israel's actions in Gaza—including the blockade and obstruction of humanitarian aid—not only meet the legal definitions of war crimes and crimes against humanity but also amount to genocide against Gaza's population.
At the end of November, Amnesty International found that Israeli authorities perpetuated genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction, showing no indication of changing their intent.
Further information
Full text: IPC Gaza Strip Acute Food Insecurity Malnutrition Oct 2025 - Apr 2026 Special Snapshot, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), report, released December 19, 2025
https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Gaza_Strip_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Malnutrition_Oct2025_Apr2026_Special_Snapshot.pdf
Full text: UN agencies and NGOs call for immediate lifting of impediments to humanitarian access and NGO operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), published December 17, 2025
https://www.ochaopt.org/content/un-agencies-and-ngos-call-immediate-lifting-impediments-humanitarian-access-and-ngo-operations-occupied