Speaking to a partially emptied General Assembly hall on September 26, Netanyahu asserted, "Israel is deliberately feeding the people of Gaza," and dismissed accusations of starvation as a "bold-faced lie" . His speech came amid growing international isolation over Israel's nearly two-year-long war in Gaza, with dozens of delegates from multiple nations walking out in protest as he began his address .
The Israeli leader's claims stand in sharp contrast to a dire August 22 report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed global hunger monitor. The IPC confirmed for the first time that famine has taken hold in Gaza, with more than half a million people trapped in conditions of widespread starvation, destitution, and preventable death . UN Secretary-General António Guterres later called the situation a "man-made disaster, a moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself" .
Famine Thresholds Breached as Malnutrition Soars
The IPC, a partnership of UN agencies and international NGOs, classifies famine when three critical thresholds are breached: extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition, and starvation-related deaths. The group stated that based on "reasonable evidence," these criteria have now been met in Gaza . This is the first time the IPC has recorded a famine outside of Africa .
The number of people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity across the Gaza Strip is projected to exceed 640,000 by the end of September. An additional 1.14 million people will be in Emergency conditions, meaning they face extreme food shortages and high risk of starvation .
Malnutrition among children is accelerating at a catastrophic pace. In July alone, more than 12,000 children were identified as acutely malnourished, the highest monthly figure ever recorded in Gaza and a six-fold increase since the start of the year. Nearly one in four of these children suffered from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger .
By September, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 43,000 children under the age of five were suffering from malnutrition, along with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women . The total number of hunger-related deaths in the besieged enclave has reached at least 361, including 130 children, since the war began in October 2023 .
Aid System Collapse and Access Obstacles
The famine is driven by a near-total collapse of Gaza's food, health, and social systems after almost two years of conflict, repeated displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access . The UN estimates that 500 to 600 aid trucks are needed daily to meet basic needs, but the average throughout much of the war has been far lower, sometimes dropping to half that number .
While Israel has announced measures such as daily humanitarian pauses and allowed some airdrops, aid groups say these efforts are insufficient and often dangerous . The UN and its partners stress that trucks remain the most effective way to deliver aid, with one truck carrying roughly 19 tons of supplies .
The delivery of the limited aid that does enter Gaza has become increasingly difficult. The UN says the Israeli military has denied or impeded more than half of the movement requests for its aid trucks in the past three months . When aid does make it into Gaza, it is frequently swarmed by hungry crowds and armed gangs, as the Hamas-run civilian police who once provided security were targeted by Israeli airstrikes .
Olga Cherevko of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently visited a reopened community kitchen in Gaza City that feeds 5,000 people a day. She noted that this "remains severely insufficient because the volume of supplies entering remains severely insufficient" .
Netanyahu's Isolation and International Reaction
Netanyahu's UN speech highlighted his government's growing international isolation. In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and others have announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state, a move Netanyahu condemned as a "mark of shame" that sends the message "murdering Jews pays off" .
The walkout during his speech and the empty seats in the General Assembly hall reflected global frustration with his refusal to end the devastating war . The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant accusing Netanyahu of crimes against humanity, which he denies, while the UN's highest court is weighing allegations of genocide in Gaza .
Despite the IPC's famine declaration and mounting evidence of starvation, the Israeli government maintains its position. In July, an Israeli Army spokesperson similarly claimed that photos showing dire conditions were part of a Hamas campaign to create "an image of starvation, which doesn't exist" .
U.S. President Donald Trump, Netanyahu's chief ally, has offered a contrasting view. When asked about Netanyahu's no-starvation claim in July, Trump said he "not particularly" agreed, noting that based on television images, "children look very hungry" and "that's real starvation stuff" .
Health System Unable to Cope with Crisis
Gaza's health system has severely deteriorated under the weight of the conflict and the hunger crisis, with health workers themselves reported to be fainting from hunger and exhaustion . Access to safe drinking water and sanitation services has been drastically reduced, leading to surging cases of multi-drug resistant infections and alarmingly high levels of illness among children .
The World Health Organization has warned that disease and hunger will only increase unless all impediments to aid delivery are removed . WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that "widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children" .
As the international community debates recognition of Palestinian statehood and cease-fire terms, UN agencies continue to emphasize that an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access are critical to saving lives. They stress that without these measures, the worst outcomes of the famine will be unavoidable, and more children will continue to die from hunger and preventable disease .