A report by UN-backed food security experts indicates improvements in nutrition and food supplies in Gaza following an October ceasefire. Despite these reported improvements, approximately 100,000 individuals were still classified as experiencing "catastrophic conditions" last month by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The IPC's latest analysis, released a month ago, reported that half a million Gazans were facing emergency conditions. Over 100,000 of these individuals were categorized under IPC Phase 5, representing the highest level of food insecurity, termed "Catastrophe" for households. The IPC projects a decrease in this number but emphasizes that the situation remains "highly fragile."
In August, prior to the ceasefire, the IPC had identified half a million people, roughly a quarter of Gaza's population, as living in areas affected by famine. The current report states that no areas in Gaza are now classified as "in Famine."
Since the October ceasefire, the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have increased the volume of food supplies entering Gaza.
Israel's Foreign Ministry stated that the IPC report was "deliberately distorted" and did not "reflect the reality in the Gaza Strip." Cogat, the Israeli military body managing Gaza's crossings, asserted that the weekly number of food aid trucks entering Gaza exceeded the quantities the UN had identified as necessary. Cogat further stated that the report "relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance." Israel had previously rejected the IPC's earlier findings of famine and continues to question its methodology.