Rome  -   Famine is looming in the northern Gaza Strip amid increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid, a UN-backed assessment said on Saturday. Israeli forces have intensified their operations in large swathes of devastated northern Gaza since early October, where evacuation orders are in place. Aid shipments allowed to enter the Gaza Strip were now lower than at any time since October 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.  The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of “an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip”. On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing “catastrophic” food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when “starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident”. Since that report, conditions have worsened in the north of Gaza, with a collapse of food systems, a drop in humanitarian aid and critical water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, the committee said.

“It can therefore be assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas,” it read.

The Israeli military on Saturday questioned the UN-back report’s credibility.

“To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground,” the army said in a statement, denouncing “partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests”.

Access to food continues to deteriorate, with prices of essentials on the black market soaring. Cooking gas rose by 2,612 percent, diesel by 1,315 percent and wood by 250 percent, it said.

“Concurrent with the extremely high and increasing prices of essential items has been the total collapse of livelihoods to be able to purchase or barter for food and other basic needs,” said the alert.

The body expressed concern over Israel’s cutting ties last month with the UN aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), warning of “extremely serious consequences for humanitarian operations” in Gaza.

The United States -- Israel’s biggest supporter -- has given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip or risk the withholding of some American military assistance.