GENEVA

Catastrophic famine is imminent in Northern Gaza and Gaza City, a leading international body on food security warned on Monday.

"According to the most likely scenario, both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are classified in IPC Phase 5 (Famine) with reasonable evidence, with 70% (around 210,000 people) of the population in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe)," said a special brief by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC).

Underlining the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and sustained access for the provision of essential supplies and services, the report warned that famine "is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024."

"The famine threshold for household acute food insecurity has already been far exceeded," it added.

According to the five-tier IPC scale, phase five of "catastrophe/famine" is marked by "starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels." It advises urgent action to revert or prevent "widespread death and total collapse of livelihoods."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 31,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in the enclave, and nearly 73,800 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60%of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.