The leading international authority on food crises predicted "widespread death" in Gaza without immediate action.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have “dramatically worsened.”

The hunger crisis in Gaza has become visible from space as thousands of Palestinians can be seen crowding around aid trucks in new satellite imagery.

T he announcement was an admission of failure. On July 26th the Israel Defence Forces ( IDF) said that it would parachute food into Gaza and implement daily “humanitarian pauses” in parts of the still depopulated areas of the devastated strip, allowing international aid organisations to bring in convoys.

The “worst-case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza, according to a warning issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

For decades, Israel has calculated precisely how much food Gaza’s population needs to survive without starving.