New York, 28 August 2025 (dpa/MIA) – All UN Security Council members, except for the United States, on Wednesday said the famine in the Gaza Strip is a "man-made crisis," warning that using starvation as a weapon of war goes against international humanitarian law.

Fourteen UNSC members expressed "profound alarm and distress" at a Friday report by the international authority responsible for monitoring food security, the IPC, confirming for the first time that famine has been occurring in an area of the embattled Palestinian territory.

The report "clearly and unequivocally confirms famine in the Gaza Governorate," an administrative region which includes Gaza City, representatives of the 14 countries said in a joint statement.

"This is the first time famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region," continued the statement, delivered by Guyana UN Ambassador Trishala Simantini Persaud.

"We stand in front of you, especially disturbed by the levels of acute malnutrition among children in Gaza," Simantini Persaud continued. "We note that at least 41,000 children are at heightened risk of death from malnutrition between now and June 2026.

"This is a man-made crisis. The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law," the Guyana representative said.

The 14 members, including China, Russia and the United Kingdom, also called for greater efforts to combat the crisis in Gaza.

They called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Palestinian militant organization Hamas, for a ceasefire and for Israel to "immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on aid delivery."

"We call on Israel to immediately reverse its decision to further expand its military operation in Gaza with the aim of taking over Gaza City," the joint statement continued. "This decision, which we reject, will inevitably worsen the already horrific humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of all civilians, including the hostages."

UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya said that more than half a million people of the Gaza Strip's 2 million inhabitants are acutely threatened by hunger and death, and this figure could rise to 640,000 by the end of September.

The IPC, whose members include nearly two dozen United Nations organizations and aid groups, also projected that famine will expand to two other central governorates, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, by the end of September.

At least 132,000 children under the age of five are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition by the middle of next year, Msuya said in New York, citing figures from the IPC report.

Israel demands retraction of report

Israel has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the report, with Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar Tal dismissing it as "fabricated" on Wednesday.

Bar Tal accused the IPC initiative of producing a politically motivated result through methodological violations.

Israel says if the report is not revised within two weeks, it will present evidence of its alleged inaccuracies to the IPC's financial backers and urge them to withdraw funding for the initiative.

In a letter to IPC programme director Jose Lopez, Bar Tal called the report "deeply flawed" and "unprofessional," adding that it failed to meet the standards expected of an international body with such serious responsibilities.

Israel "categorically rejects" the findings, he wrote, accusing the authors of supporting "Hamas' fake starvation campaign."

When is famine declared?

Famine is formally declared when three criteria are met: At least 20% of households face extreme food shortages, at least 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and at least two adults or four children per 10,000 inhabitants die every day from hunger or from a combination of malnutrition and disease.

The area now facing famine covers around 20% of the embattled Gaza Strip, including the territory's major metropolis Gaza City, which the Israeli military is planning to seize as part of a new offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The offensive, approved on Thursday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, has sparked fears of further suffering for the civilian population.

Before beginning the campaign, Israel plans to relocate the city's population of around 1 million. However, residents have already reported intense Israeli airstrikes in the vicinity of the city.