Security Council Briefing by Angélica Jácome, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization Liaison Office with the United Nations, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza
13 May 2025
Mr President,
Members of the Security Council,
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset I wish to thank the Greek Presidency of the United Nations Security Council for inviting the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to brief you on the item ‘the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question’ specifically the food security situation in Gaza.
Mr. President,
The situation in Gaza is very difficult as millions of people face acute food insecurity, and the risk of famine is imminent.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, released just yesterday, confirms that the entire population of the Gaza Strip – approximately 2.1 million people – remains at critical risk of Famine following months of conflict, mass displacement, and severe constraints on humanitarian access.
Half a million people – one out of five people – are in IPC Phase 5 category, defined as Catastrophe. Essential items for people’s survival are depleted or likely to be exhausted in the coming weeks.
Compared to the previous IPC analysis released in October 2024, the situation has significantly deteriorated.
Between 1 April and 10 May 2025:
- 93 percent of the population –or 1.95 million people – were classified in Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or above),
- of which 244 000 people –12 percent of the population – are in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), and
- 925 000 – 44 percent – in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).
While levels of acute malnutrition remain at Alert and Serious levels in North Gaza, Gaza City and Rafah governorates, there is deep concern that this could quickly worsen.
In what is considered the IPC’s most likely scenario (from 11 May to the end of September 2025), the whole Gaza Strip is classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), with the entire population expected to face Crisis or worse acute food insecurity.
This includes:
- nearly 470 000 people or 1 in 5 people reaching Catastrophe levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5).
- over a million people (54 percent) will face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of hunger, and
- the remaining half million (24 percent) will experience Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of hunger.
Should humanitarian and commercial blockades continue, the worst-case scenario could unfold, leading to a near complete lack of access to food, water, medicines, non-food items, supplies and services that are essential for survival.
Mr President,
Children and women have not been spared in this crisis. Prior to 7 October 2023, Gaza had low rates of malnutrition – comparable to European countries – due to a diverse and affordable food supply. It was self-sufficient in vegetables, eggs, milk, poultry, and fish, and produced much of its meat, olive oil, and fruits.
Nearly 71 000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months (May 2025-April 2026). Of these, 14 100 cases are expected to be severe. In addition, nearly 17 000 pregnant and breastfeeding women also require treatment for acute malnutrition during this period.
Agrifood systems have collapsed in the Gaza Strip, while food prices have soared. Local food production, the primary source of a healthy diet, has been decimated. Nearly 75 percent of the cropland, which contributed up to one-third of daily consumption, has been damaged or destroyed since the escalation in hostilities. Animal production has been devastated with almost 95 percent of cattle, and more than half of sheep and goat herds now dead. And the price of wheat flour has increased by 3 000 percent since February 2025.
We are witnessing the systemic breakdown of conditions essential for survival. People in Gaza are not only experiencing a lack of food, but they are going through a profound breakdown of health, livelihoods, and social structures, leaving entire communities in a state of desperation, devastation and death.
The right to food is a basic human right, and this crisis is preventable: food, food production kits, medicine, water and hygiene kits are waiting to be delivered across the border.
Mr President,
By the time Famine has been declared, people are already dying of hunger, with irreversible consequences that will last generations. The window of opportunity to deliver assistance is now.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 reaffirms that protecting civilians and objects critical to preventing hunger is a shared responsibility.
FAO stands ready to work with all partners.
Thank you, Mr President.
Video Link: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k16s53j2fy
Document Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Security Council
Country: Hungary
Subject: Armed conflict, Food, Gaza Strip, Security Council Briefings, malnutrition
Publication Date: 13/05/2025
URL source: https://www.fao.org/new-york/fao-statements/detail/fao-at-the-9914th-meeting-of-the-un-security-council---the-situation-in-the-middle-east--including-the-palestinian-question/en