NEW YORK CITY: Gaza is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis, with food insecurity and malnutrition reaching levels that meet the official thresholds for famine, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.

An alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a system for determining the scale and nature of a food crisis, said that two of the three official indicators used to determine famine conditions are now present in parts of the Gaza Strip.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme and UNICEF warned that time is rapidly running out to launch a full-scale humanitarian response.

“Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine,” said the FAO’s director-general, Qu Dongyu.

“People are starving not because food is unavailable but because access is blocked, food systems have collapsed, and families cannot survive. The right to food is a basic human right.”

The agencies pointed to relentless conflict, the breakdown of essential services, and severe restrictions on aid deliveries as the key drivers of the crisis. Humanitarian access remains limited, despite the partial reopening of border crossings, and aid flows remain far below what is required to support Gaza’s more than 2 million residents.

Food consumption, a core indicator of famine, has dropped sharply since May. New data shows that 39 percent of Gazans go entire days without food. More than 500,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions, while the rest face emergency levels of hunger.

Acute malnutrition, a second indicator of famine, is surging. In Gaza City, rates among children under 5 years old have quadrupled in just two months, reaching 16.5 percent.

UNICEF warned that all 320,000 under-5s in Gaza are now at risk of acute malnutrition, with thousands already suffering from its most deadly form. Most nutritional services have collapsed, and infants lack access to clean water, baby formula and life-saving therapeutic food.

“Babies and young children are literally wasting away from hunger,” said UNICEF’s executive director, Catherine Russell.

“We need immediate, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access. Without it, preventable child deaths will continue.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza were enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.

“This is not a warning, it is a reality unfolding before our eyes,” he said. “The current trickle of aid must become an ocean, with food, water, medicine and fuel flowing freely and without obstruction.

“This nightmare must end. Ending this worst-case scenario will require the best efforts of all parties, now.

“We need an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza. This is a test of our shared humanity — a test we cannot afford to fail.”

Reports of starvation-related deaths are increasing, though comprehensive data is difficult to gather as the healthcare system in Gaza teeters on the verge of total collapse after nearly two years of conflict.

The World Food Programme’s executive director, Cindy McCain, said waiting for a formal declaration of famine before acting would be “unconscionable.”

She called for Gaza to be “flooded with food aid immediately and without obstruction” and warned that “people are already dying of malnutrition; the longer we wait, the higher the death toll will rise.”

According to UN data, Gaza needs at least 62,000 tonnes of food and nutritional aid every month. The return of commercial food imports is also critical to dietary diversity and the restoration of local markets.

The agencies also stressed the urgent need for fuel and water supplies and infrastructure repairs to support humanitarian operations and prevent further deaths.

In their joint statement, the FAO, WFP and UNICEF called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire agreement, mass humanitarian access using all border crossings, the restoration of basic services, and international investment in efforts to rebuild Gaza’s food systems and agricultural capacity.

“The world must act now,” they said. “The lives of hundreds of thousands — especially children — depend on it.”