Famine 'occurring or imminent' in parts of northern Gaza, experts warn UN security council

Experts warned the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that famine is "occurring or imminent" in parts of northern Gaza.

The north has been under siege for about a month as Israeli forces ordered evacuations for several regions and worked to surround Hamas fighters who are allegedly in the area.

In remarks during Tuesday's session, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield referenced a Nov. 8 alert from the U.N.-backed Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee warning of famine as the humanitarian situation "rapidly" deteriorates in the strip.

"The IPC's latest report on the prospect of imminent famine underscores the urgency of the situation. And it makes clear that such a surge [of humanitarian aid] is critical," she said.

Thomas-Greenfield also added there must be "no forcible displacement, nor policy of starvation in Gaza" by Israel, warning such policies would have implications under U.S. and international law.

In the alert, the IPC referenced its analysis last month, which found that 133,000 people in Gaza were classified as facing catastrophic food insecurity and that risk of famine exists for the whole strip between November 2024 and April 2025.

"Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or who have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation," the alert said. 

Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, responded to the IPC alert, writing in a post on X that the "the unacceptable is confirmed."

"Immediate steps MUST BE TAKEN to allow safe, rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies to prevent an all-out catastrophe. NOW," she wrote.

Meanwhile, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon rejected the famine warning on Tuesday as "simply false" and outlined efforts by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

"It is an exercise in slander, disguised as humanitarian concern. The IPC's latest report echoes one of the most unfounded, slanderous accusations against the state of Israel throughout this conflict," he said.

The Israeli government has denied that conditions causing malnutrition exist inside Gaza and has said it works with international organizations to ensure necessary aid crosses the border into Gaza from Israel.

COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates and facilitates humanitarian aid for Gaza has said that plenty of aid is entering the strip and that "international organizations need to increase their capacity for distribution."

In a post on X on Wednesday, COGAT said 117 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza the day before, with 32 of those trucks entering northern Gaza, and that a tanker of fuel was coordinated to the north to refuel essential infrastructure.

Although COGAT claims aid has entered Gaza, the U.N. has said the past month has seen the least amount of aid enter the strip since the war began.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the passing of the 30-day deadline the Biden administration gave to Israel. The deadline called on the Israeli government to increase the amount of aid reaching Gaza by Nov. 12 or the U.S. would place restrictions on military support.

Blinken said Israel has taken steps to meet most of the Biden administration's demands.

"The intent was to inject a sense of urgency with Israel to take necessary steps to address the dire humanitarian situation of children, women, and men in Gaza," Blinken said of the letter he and Defense Secretary Austin sent to the Israeli government. "The effect has been that of the 15 steps that we urged action on, Israel has taken action either in implementing or being in the process of implementing 12 of the 15 steps."

International aid agencies said Israel does not create conditions to ensure safe passages to deliver aid and have said Israel has not changed anything in the past 30 days. However, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel insisted in comments to reporters that the U.S. is "not giving Israel a pass."

Since Hamas launched a surprise terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7 of last year, and Israel responded by declaring war, at least 43,712 people have been killed in Gaza and at least 103,258 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 1,700 people in Israel have been killed and about 8,700 people have been injured, according to Israeli officials.

ABC News' Will Gretsky and Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to correctly identify the number of those reported to have been killed and injured in Gaza.