The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza — the first in the Middle East — warning that more than 500,000 people are facing "catastrophic" hunger. The declaration came from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a UN-backed coalition that monitors global hunger.

"After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death," the IPC said in its latest assessment.

According to its projections, famine will spread from Gaza City to Deir el-Balah and Khan Yunis by the end of September, engulfing nearly two-thirds of the Palestinian territory. By then, the number of people at risk is expected to rise to 641,000 — almost a third of Gaza’s population.