Food security experts, who have been warning for 22 months of dire food shortages and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, on Friday confirmed that one part of the enclave is suffering from famine and that it is threatening to spread to others within weeks.

The confirmation of famine came from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, known as the I.P.C., a group of international organizations that collects and analyzes data about food security, to ensure that consistent criteria are used to assess food supplies and the conditions affecting them in different countries.

In July, experts warned of looming famine across Gaza. Israel restricted aid soon after the war began almost two years ago, but the situation was made significantly worse by a total Israeli blockade on food supplies for roughly 80 days between March and May.

On Friday, the I.P.C. confirmed famine in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and the surrounding area. It projected that famine could spread to south and central Gaza by the end of September.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an Israeli agency responsible for managing the entry of aid into Gaza, rejected the I.P.C.’s findings.

“The I.P.C. report is based on partial and unreliable sources, many of them affiliated with Hamas, and blatantly ignores the facts and the extensive humanitarian efforts led by the State of Israel and its international partners,” said Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, the head of the agency.

Here’s what to know about the I.P.C.’s report on famine in parts of Gaza.

How do experts define famine?

The I.P.C. classifies famine in an area when at least one in five households face an extreme lack of food, a certain percentage of children are acutely malnourished, and two adults or four children for every 10,000 are dying each day “due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease.” According to the I.P.C., over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing “catastrophic conditions,” classified at famine level and characterized by “starvation, destitution and death.” Twice as many, or about half of Gaza’s population, are facing a state of emergency, the report said.

How is a famine officially declared?

The I.P.C. collects data from aid groups and others on the ground and analyzes it to reach its conclusions, and the Famine Review Committee, an international panel of up to seven independent food security experts, reviews the findings.

But even if the I.P.C. determines that a famine is unfolding, it cannot make an official declaration on its own.

According to the I.P.C., its analyses allow governments, international and regional organizations, and humanitarian agencies to issue declarations of famine.

In 2022, Somalia’s president expressed reluctance to declare a famine during a severe hunger crisis brought on by a drought. And in 2021, Ethiopia blocked a classification of famine in the Tigray region through heavy lobbying, according to a top U.N. official. In 2017, South Sudan officially declared a famine in parts of the nation.

It is unclear exactly what authority could or would declare a famine in Gaza. Hamas has long accused Israel of starving Gazans. Israel denies that there is starvation in the enclave. The I.P.C.’s role is solely to analyze and classify data, not to decide who would issue a declaration.

Aid groups have long believed that an official declaration of famine can lead to more international attention, assistance and support, but some experts say there is little evidence for that claim.

What does the report say is causing famine in Gaza?

The I.P.C. said several factors had tipped Gaza’s hunger crisis into famine: the intensifying conflict, strict Israeli restrictions on aid and frequent displacement of people. The cumulative effect “has pushed Gaza into an unprecedented catastrophe,” it said.

Nearly a third of Gaza’s population is not eating for multiple days in a row, the U.N. World Food Program said in July, linking the extreme hunger to the blockade on food supplies Israel imposed this spring.

Israel has accused Hamas of looting aid. But the United Nations and some Israeli military officials have disputed the claim that U.N. aid was being systematically diverted by Hamas. Before March, food was distributed from hundreds of places across Gaza in a system facilitated by the United Nations. In May, Israel partly lifted its blockade and set up a system run by American contractors and backed by the United States, saying it would ensure that aid goes to civilians.

But there are few locations and Palestinians must walk for miles to reach distribution spots near which Israeli soldiers stand watch. The U.N. human rights office has said hundreds of people have been killed, mostly by the Israeli military, in areas surrounding the distribution sites.

Under intense international pressure, Israel has allowed more aid to enter in recent weeks. Israeli officials have said roughly 300 trucks of relief supplies and commercial goods have been entering Gaza daily. And the cost of some food items in markets has fallen significantly, although they remain well above prewar prices.

But United Nations officials said many trucks were still being intercepted by desperate people and gunmen before reaching their destination.

Are any other countries experiencing famine?

In June, the I.P.C. said that parts of Sudan were experiencing famine and that the crisis could spread.

Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen were among the countries facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the 2025 Global Report on Food Crisis published by the European Union-funded Food Security Information Network, based on data from the previous year.

The I.P.C. has classified famine in Somalia in 2011; in South Sudan in 2017; and in Sudan in 2024, which is ongoing.

Vivian Yee Adam Rasgon and Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting.