The report also found that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing Phase 5 conditions, which are characterized as catastrophic levels of food insecurity. About 1.07 million people, 54% of the population, are facing Phase 4 conditions, characterized as emergency levels of food insecurity.

For an area to be experiencing famine, at least 30 percent of children under 5 must be considered acutely malnourished by height and weight measures. Using the arm circumference method, the I.P.C. said, the accepted threshold dropped to 15 percent.

Famine was declared in areas of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, as Israeli forces embarked on a major new ground offensive to capture and occupy the city.