A Palestinian woman carries papers and a bottle along the Al-Jalaa street following an Israeli strike in Gaza City on July 24, 2026. (AFP)
An estimated 1.4 million people in Gaza are expected to face “high levels of acute food insecurity” through December, up from 1.2 million from mid-April to June, despite improvements driven by humanitarian assistance, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis.
The IPC said on July 23 the number of people experiencing crisis (Phase 3) or worse conditions is projected to rise to 67 percent of Gaza’s population, while 212,000 people are expected to remain in emergency (Phase 4). All five of Gaza’s governorates are classified as being in crisis.
The report said expanded humanitarian assistance following last October’s ceasefire helped improve food security and nutrition, with food aid reaching about 1.49 million people in May.
It warned, however, that rations remain insufficient, livelihoods have collapsed, and 83 percent of households report having no source of income, leaving most families dependent on external assistance.
The IPC cautioned that recent gains remain “highly fragile” as humanitarian assistance has declined since February due to funding constraints and uncertainty surrounding the operations of international aid groups.
It warned that, without humanitarian food assistance, an estimated 1.9 million people, about 90 percent of Gaza’s population, will face high levels of acute food insecurity through December.
The report also projected that 74,200 children under 5 would require treatment for acute malnutrition by April 2027, including 11,432 severe cases.
It stressed that only one in five children in Gaza currently has access to an adequate diet due to the limited availability of nutritious food, while nearly half of households receive less than 15 liters of water per person per day for all uses.
Meanwhile, 24,600 pregnant and breastfeeding women need urgent nutritional support.
