Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Foreign Ministry publish a new report accusing the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) of issuing a biased and methodologically flawed declaration of famine in Gaza.
The IPC’s Famine Review Committee report, released on August 22, found that conditions in Gaza City meet the threshold for famine — the first such designation in the Middle East.
The Israeli review says the IPC relied on selective and inconsistent data, ignored July 2025 figures showing improvements in food security, and used arm circumference measurements instead of standard weight-for-height ratios, inflating malnutrition rates.
It also notes that mortality data in Gaza does not meet famine thresholds and questions the neutrality of some committee members, citing public support for Hamas and the Houthis, and two members’ praising of the October 7, 2023, massacre that started the war.
COGAT concludes that the famine declaration erodes trust in humanitarian reporting and calls for a reassessment of the IPC’s process.
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