UN Security Council, FAO warns of imminent famine in northern Gaza due to escalation of conflict

The food security situation in northern Gaza is dire and the latest indications are deeply troubling, said Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience Rein Paulsen in his address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday 12 Nov.

Last Friday, the independent Famine Review Committee found a strong likelihood that famine is occurring or imminent in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.

“The conflict has intensified, and so has the damage to objects indispensable to civilian survival,” Paulsen said pointing to the latest projections indicating that the population classified in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) is expected to nearly triple in the coming months.

Already in October, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) revealed that nearly 133,000 people faced catastrophic food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) and a risk of famine existed across the entire Gaza Strip between November 2024 and April 2025.

“Men, women, boys and girls are effectively starving as the conflict rages, with humanitarian organizations blocked from delivering assistance to those in need,” Paulsen said emphasizing that the window of opportunity to save people’s lives is now – tomorrow will be too late.

“By the time famine has been declared, people are already dying of hunger, with irreversible consequences that can last generations,” he added.

To this end, Paulsen called for urgent diplomatic efforts from across the international community to address conflict-induced food insecurity, including famine in the Gaza Strip. He also urged Council members to remind all parties to the conflict of their responsibility to protect civilian infrastructure, critical to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and to ensure the proper functioning of agrifood systems and markets in situations of armed conflict.

Agrifood systems have collapsed, and local food production has decimated across the whole of Gaza. According to the FAO-UNOSAT most recent geospatial analysis in Gaza… 95 percent of cattle and more than half of sheep and goat herds, have died. These animal losses have both removed access to critical and nutritious sources of protein and milk as well as devastated people’s livelihoods. In addition, food supply across the entire Gaza Strip has sharply deteriorated while food availability is at an all-time low.

Paulsen reiterated FAO’s commitment to further scale up its efforts to respond to famine and prevent its spread in the Gaza Strip through additional support to enable local food production where possible and to keep remaining livestock alive and productive. 

“Immediate and unlimited, safe access to people who are in need is indispensable to save lives and prevent famine. A ceasefire is urgently needed,” he concluded.