Key Takeaways:
- Media headlines parroted a July 2025 report that famine was unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
- Reports buried the fact that famine has not been officially declared and that not all famine thresholds have been crossed.
- Media ignored the fact that the report lowered the standard by which famine is determined.
The headlines blazed across the screen at the end of July 2025.
“Famine unfolding across Gaza, says global hunger monitor” – The Washington Post
“Famine ‘currently playing out’ in Gaza, UN-backed experts warn” – BBC
“‘Worst-case scenario of famine’ is happening in Gaza, food crisis experts warn” – AP
These shocking headlines were based on the publication of an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert on July 29, 2025, purportedly warning that famine was unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
But in reporting on this IPC alert, did news organizations do their journalistic due diligence? Or did these media outlets sacrifice their professional integrity in exchange for sensationalistic headlines?
A number of factors point to the latter.
1. First, the above headlines and similar ones by other news organizations were misleading.
Anyone skimming the headlines would come away with the impression that a famine had officially been declared in Gaza by the world’s leading experts.
Only those who read the entire article would notice several paragraphs in the alert that made clear that these were not official findings of famine in Gaza. By burying this important information, the media helped contribute to the false image of Israel manufacturing a famine in Gaza that has spread like wildfire around the world.
Related Reading: Hungry for Truth: Media, Propaganda, and the Misguided Starvation in Gaza
2. Second, three thresholds need to be crossed for the IPC to officially classify an area as being under famine: 20% of households face an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and there are at least two non-trauma deaths per 10,000 population per day.
Once again, the media buried deep in their reports that, even according to the IPC alert, only one threshold (extreme lack of food) had been crossed throughout the entire Gaza Strip. The second threshold was only alleged to have been crossed in specific areas, while the third threshold was never claimed to have been crossed anywhere in the Strip.
For famine to be declared in Gaza, with its population of over 2 million, 420 people would have to die from lack of food every day. This is nowhere near what is being claimed by anyone, including the Hamas authorities.
But once again, this salient fact was only mentioned briefly deep in the reports, prioritizing vague claims of famine over a proper presentation of the facts.
🧵 I did a deep dive research into every IPC Famine Report of Gaza. By their own standards and metrics, the IPC reports are increasing the amount of deaths due to starvation/malnutrition by over 31,221% to produce complete propaganda against Israel
(1/10)
— Nick Matau 🇺🇸🇮🇱🎗 (@nick_matau) August 10, 2025
Changing the Parameters
In recent days, it has been revealed that this latest IPC alert also changed the parameters for how acute malnutrition had previously been measured in Gaza.
This revelation, first publicized by The Washington Free Beacon, found that the IPC had changed the metric for determining the threshold of acute malnutrition.
Where the threshold was initially determined by measuring the weight and height of each child, the latest IPC report relied on mid-upper arm circumference. Although this measure has been used selectively in past IPC reports, it is regarded as less accurate than weight and height.
The Free Beacon also found that the IPC had lowered the threshold from 30% of children to 15% of children using the arm measurement and vague “evidence of rapidly worsening underlying drivers.”
While this is a big shift in how famine is determined, and could be a signal that the IPC is lowering its standards in order to declare Gaza a famine zone regardless of what is happening on the ground, this change went completely unmentioned by the traditional media.
It appears that the media were more focused on quickly parroting the IPC’s famine claims than critically analyzing the organization’s report.
JUST IN 🔴
UN-Linked Report Lowered Standards to Declare Gaza Famine
The UN-linked IPC lowered famine standards for Gaza in its July 29 report, replacing traditional weight-height checks with MUAC arm measurements and cutting the child malnutrition threshold from 30% to 15%.… pic.twitter.com/rpTAv2PqX6
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 12, 2025
Hamas Inflating the Numbers
Aside from the IPC report, another source for the media’s claim of increasing starvation in Gaza is the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The media have uncritically published the latest numbers of those who have passed away from malnutrition and starvation provided by the Ministry of Health.
However, the Israeli body that coordinates the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, COGAT, recently observed that Hamas appears to be inflating these numbers. Whereas previous deaths from starvation were officially identified on official channels with full descriptions of the deceased, the latest claims by Hamas do not carry these identifiers.
Based on this, COGAT surmises that Hamas is inflating the numbers to mar Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza. Nevertheless, the media continue to publish these figures as verified facts.
COGAT review shows Hamas inflates Gaza hunger data in ‘orchestrated campaign’
Hamas is inflating toll of Palestinians it says died of malnutrition and most of those verified to have died -had preexisting medical conditionshttps://t.co/pkMf3dWto1 @nytimes will you report this?— Lilac Sigan (@lilacsigan) August 12, 2025
Any level of hunger and malnutrition is lamentable. However, the question of whether there is a famine in Gaza, who is to blame for this widespread lack of food, and the extent to which there is starvation in Gaza, are all important questions that have a real-world effect on the future of Israel’s military campaign, international relations, and domestic politics.
The claims put forward by the IPC and Hamas authorities in Gaza must be analyzed critically and not blindly regurgitated by the media. If the media is not up to the task, then it must fall to the average news consumer to look behind the headlines and not fall prey to authority bias by seriously examining these claims.
Liked this article? Follow HonestReporting on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to see even more posts and videos debunking news bias and smears, as well as other content explaining what’s really going on in Israel and the region. Get updates direct to your phone. Join our WhatsApp and Telegram channels!
