UN-Linked Hunger Group Lowered Standards To Accuse Israel Of Gaza Famine

A United Nations–affiliated hunger monitoring group quietly changed its own famine criteria in a way that made it easier to accuse Israel of causing a “famine” in Gaza a move critics say was designed to fit a political agenda.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s most recognized hunger assessment system, has traditionally required that 30% of children in an area suffer from acute malnutrition measured through precise weight-for-height metrics before declaring a famine. But in its July 29 Gaza report, the IPC cut that threshold in half to 15% and switched to a far less rigorous measurement: mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC).

The result:

• In Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, less than 8% of children met the new “acute malnutrition” definition.

• Gaza City recorded 16.5% above the new 15% famine threshold, but far below the long-standing 30% standard.

An experienced aid worker told the Washington Free Beacon the change effectively “lowers the bar” and “makes it more possible… to declare whatever it is that they’re going to declare.” Traditionally, famine declarations have relied on the 30% weight-for-height benchmark, which is harder to measure but more reliable.

“This is one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated on the world,” said former National Security Council staffer Richard Goldberg. “There is no famine in Gaza the data thresholds don’t support that claim and yet we have the United Nations changing the rules to fit the desired political outcome.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee accused the IPC of aiding Hamas propaganda. “This report reveals how a UN-backed famine watchdog quietly changed standards, easing the way to declare famine in Gaza to aid Hamas and blame Israel,” he wrote on X.

The controversy adds to long-standing criticism of UN agencies for allowing political considerations to shape their reporting on Israel. For Jerusalem and its allies, the IPC’s sudden rule change is more than just bureaucratic tinkering it’s a high-stakes manipulation of data that could fuel international pressure and misinformation in the middle of an ongoing conflict.

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