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August 2025, Volume XLVIII, Bulletin No. VIII

Contents

  1. Famine Confirmed for First Time in Gaza
  2. Israeli Settlements in the E1 Area in the Occupied West Bank
  3. 11 Journalists Killed in Gaza
  4. Israeli Government’s Decision to “Take Control of Gaza City”
  5. Gaza Humanitarian Situation Updates

I. Famine Confirmed for First Time in Gaza

On 22 August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) confirmed in a new analysis that Famine (IPC Phase 5) is currently occurring in Gaza Governorate. The FRC projects Famine (IPC Phase 5) thresholds to be crossed in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks. In a statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “this is not a mystery — it is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself”. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a joint statement stressing that famine must be stopped at all costs. “An immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives,” reads the statement.

Speaking at a UN press briefing in Geneva, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said “It is a famine. The Gaza Famine. It is a famine that we could have prevented, if we had been allowed.” Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, posted on his official X account “Months of warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Famine is now confirmed in Gaza City.” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, highlighted that “this catastrophe is entirely human-made”. Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated that the famine “is the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government.” In a statement, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stressed that “for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their newborns, it is a possible death sentence.”

On 27 August, the Bureau of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued a statement condemning, in the strongest terms, “this deliberate use of deprivation and starvation by Israel, the occupying Power, as a weapon against the Palestinian people”. The same day, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the same issue. Ramiz Alakbarov, United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Council on the IPC Famine Review Committee report. Following the meeting, fourteen members of the UN Security Council — Algeria, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, and the United Kingdom — issued a joint press statement expressing “profound alarm and distress” at the latest IPC report on Gaza which “clearly and unequivocally” confirms famine in the Strip. “The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” the joint statement said.

Consult the UNISPAL database for more detailed information on this issue:

II. Israeli Settlements in the E1 Area in the Occupied West Bank

On 20 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the decision of the Israeli Higher Planning Committee to grant approval for more than 3,400 housing units in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank. In a press release, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory stated that final approval by the Israeli Government of the “so-called El settlement plan in occupied East Jerusalem represents another grave and unlawful step to consolidate annexation of the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law, which prohibits the acquisition of territory by force.” In addition, on 28 August, the Bureau of the UN Palestinian Rights Committee rejected and condemned the plan, calling it a “blatant land grab” which “constitutes a grave breach of international law and is a direct challenge to decades of international consensus.”

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III. 11 Journalists Killed in Gaza

On 11 August, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, condemned the killing of six journalists Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Al-Khaldi in Gaza City, Palestine on 10 August. Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, posted on his official X account: “The Israeli Army continues to silence voices reporting atrocities from Gaza.” The “deliberate killing” of four Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza was an attempt to “silence reporting on the ongoing genocide and starvation campaign in the besieged enclave”,  UN Experts Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967; and Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a statement, condemning the “targeted attacks in the strongest possible terms”.

On 25 August, two Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza killed five journalists – Mariam Abu Daqqa, Mohammed Salama, Moaz Abu Taha, Hussam al-Masri, and Ahmed Abu Aziz. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strikes and reiterated that medical personnel and journalists must be able to perform their essential duties without interference, intimidation, or harm. UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said that at least 247 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the 7 October 2023. In an X post, the UN Palestinian Rights Committee highlighted that Mariam Abu Daqqa’s work was spotlighted at the Committee’s 2024 exhibit “Gaza, Palestine: A Crisis of Humanity, A Cry for Justice” at UN Headquarters in New York.

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IV. Israeli Government’s Decision to “Take Control of Gaza City”

On 8 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave alarm over the decision of the Israeli Government to “take control of Gaza City”.  “This decision marks a dangerous escalation and risks deepening the already catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians, and could further endanger more lives, including of the remaining hostages”, reads the statement. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also issued a statement calling for an immediate halt of the Israeli Government’s as “it runs contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must bring its occupation to an end as soon as possible…”.

Israel decision “risks igniting another horrific chapter in this conflict, with potential consequences beyond Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča said during an emergency Security Council session on 10 August, as delegates warned that this escalation will uproot a million people and exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Before the emergency meeting, in a joint statement Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and the United Kingdom condemned the Government of Israel’s decision to further expand its military operations in Gaza”, calling on Israel to “urgently reverse this decision and not to implement it.”

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V. Gaza Humanitarian Situation Updates

On 1 August, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban, issued a statement following his recent travels to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank stating that UNICEF’s appeal for Gaza is “critically underfunded – only 30 per cent of health and nutrition needs are covered.” On 5 August, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that “the volumes of supplies that are entering Gaza remain insufficient to meet people’s needs.” Meanwhile, 35 UN experts expressed grave concern over the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) operations, saying “Palestinians are paying the ultimate price of the international community’s legal, political and moral failure”. Briefing the Security Council, UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča said “the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel continues to deteriorate, with Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including the remaining hostages in Gaza, continuing to suffer immensely as a result.”

On 9 August, a new assessment conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) through satellite imagery revealed a “staggering reality: 98.5 per cent of cropland in the Gaza Strip is either damaged, inaccessible, or both.” The targeted destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system by the Israel Defense Forces amounts to “medicide,” UN experts Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to health and Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said on 13 August, accusing Israel of “deliberately attacking and starving healthcare workers, paramedics and hospitals to wipe out medical care in the besieged enclave”.

Condemning the enforced disappearance of starving Palestinian civilians seeking food aid at distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group of UN experts on 28 August urged Israeli authorities to put an end to the” heinous crime against an already vulnerable population”.

More details:

The previous Bulletins can be found in the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) at: https://www.un.org/unispal/data-collection/monthly-bulletin/

Disclaimer: The texts cited in this Monthly Bulletin have been reproduced in their original form. The Division for Palestinian Rights is consequently not responsible for the views, positions or discrepancies contained in these texts.

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Download Document Files: https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250915-August-Monthly-Bulletin.pdf
Document Type: Monthly Bulletin
Document Sources: Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Secretary-General, Security Council, United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO)
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Casualties, Ceasefire, Children, Famine, Food, Gaza Strip, Health, Hostages, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Israeli settlements, Media/Journalists, Occupying Power, Palestine question, Refugees and displaced persons, Statehood-related, Two State solution, Violence, West Bank, Women, malnutrition
Publication Date: 15/09/2025