Wed Aug 27 05:14:16 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the provided text, written from an Indian perspective and styled for a news outlet like *The Hindu*:

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**The Hindu: World Affairs – Gaza Declared Famine Zone by UN, Blames Aid Restrictions**

**August 28, 2025 (New Delhi)** — The United Nations has officially declared a famine in Gaza Governorate, including Gaza City, marking the first such declaration in West Asia. The announcement, made on August 22nd and endorsed by UN agencies including FAO, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO, paints a grim picture of humanitarian crisis driven by restricted aid, conflict, and displacement.

The UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirms that more than half a million Palestinians in Gaza are already facing starvation and preventable deaths. The situation is projected to worsen and spread south unless immediate and significant improvements are made to aid access.

The IPC defines famine according to a set of specific criteria. In affected areas, 20% of households must face extreme food shortages and inability to meet basic needs, acute malnutrition among children (6-59 months) must exceed 30%, and crude death rates must reach at least 2 per 10,000 people per day.

According to the UN agencies, the famine in Gaza is a “human-made” disaster. They cite ongoing armed conflict, displacement, and most crucially, severe restrictions imposed by Israeli forces on humanitarian aid entering the region as the primary drivers. This suggests that political decisions, rather than the mere availability of aid, determine whether food and medicine reach those who are starving.

This declaration is expected to intensify pressure on the international community to address the root causes of the famine and ensure unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza. The world now needs to make a united effort to help provide the people in Gaza with basic necessities.

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