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"Global humanitarian needs are rising, fueled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil," said WFP executive director Cindy McCain. "Yet funding is failing to keep pace."
The World Food Program offered a stark warning for the coming year Friday in its assessment of the escalating global hunger crisis: Due to climate catastrophe and violent conflicts around the world, without adequate funding, "2025 will be a year of unrelenting crises" that drive more people into food insecurity and starvation.
In the WFP 2025 Global Outlook, the agency emphasized that protecting more than 100 million people from devastating hunger in the coming year would require a relatively small investment—$16.9 billion, "roughly what the world spends on coffee in just two weeks."
That amount is a fraction of what the world's wealthiest countries—particularly the United States—put toward military spending in a year.
In total, the WFP found that 343 million people in 74 countries are acutely food insecure—a 10% increase from last year.
"Global humanitarian needs are rising, fueled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil. Yet funding is failing to keep pace," said Cindy McCain, WFP executive director.
With $16.9 billion, the WFP said it could assist 123 million people who are most vulnerable to extreme hunger.
Among those are 1.9 million people who "are on the brink of famine," including those in Gaza, where access to food has been decimated in the last 13 months by Israel's near-total humanitarian aid blockade, repeated forced displacements, and U.S.-backed bombardment of the enclave. Many people in Gaza are now eating just one meal per day, and the United Nations this week warned of a "stark increase" in the number of households facing severe hunger in the southern and central parts of the territory.
More than 90% of people in Gaza are now "acutely food insecure," with 16% living in "catastrophic conditions," according to the United Nations.
"We urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community: to reverse the rising tide of global needs, and help vulnerable communities build long-term resilience against food insecurity."
People in Haiti and the sub-Saharan African countries of Mali, Sudan, and South Sudan were also identified as being most at risk for extreme hunger, with the region called "ground zero" for the humanitarian crisis.
Over 170 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are "acutely" food insecure, said the WFP. The region "accounts for 50% of WFP's projected funding needs in 2025," driven by climate extremes as well as violent conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Sahel region.
The U.N. Famine Review Committee in August declared that famine had taken hold in a camp where hundreds of thousands of people live in North Darfur, Sudan, after being forcibly displaced by the civil war there.
The U.N. also reported on Thursday that 25.6 million people in the DRC—or 1 in 4—now suffer from "crisis or worse" levels of hunger, driven partially by fighting between armed groups.
"In such a fragile context, the cost of inaction is truly unthinkable," said Peter Musoko, WFP country director and representative for DRC. "Together, we need to work with the government and the humanitarian community to increase resources for this neglected crisis."
Across Asia and the Pacific, WFP said the hunger crisis facing 88 million people is caused largely by "increasingly frequent climate disasters."
In Afghanistan, approximately 12.4 million people faced acute food insecurity last month, linked to the "devastation caused by heavy rainfall and flooding."
The severe impact of Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar led to "even more displacement" and food insecurity, compounding the effects of an escalating civil war, and nearly 6 million people in eastern Bangladesh were also affected by severe flooding this year.
"At WFP, we are dedicated to achieving a world without hunger," said McCain. "But to get there, we urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community: to reverse the rising tide of global needs, and help vulnerable communities build long-term resilience against food insecurity."
"The disturbing worst-case scenario for an entire population is all but certain without an immediate cease-fire," said one aid group.
The Israeli government has reportedly cut off commercial food imports to the Gaza Strip, a move that was revealed Thursday as new data showed that the besieged enclave's entire population is facing emergency-level hunger as famine conditions take hold.
Reutersreported that the far-right Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has "stopped processing requests from traders to import food to Gaza, according to 12 people involved in the trade, choking off a track that for the past six months supplied more than half of the besieged Palestinian territory's provisions."
"Since October 11, Gaza-based traders who were importing food from Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank have lost access to a system introduced in spring by COGAT, the Israeli government body that oversees aid and commercial shipments, and have received no reply to attempts to contact the agency," Reuters continued. "The shift has driven the flow of goods arriving in Gaza to its lowest level since the start of the war."
Israel's obstruction of humanitarian assistance and repeated attacks on aid convoys have sparked catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. According to an updated analysis published Thursday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), "the whole territory is classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency)" and "given the recent surge in hostilities, there are growing concerns that this worst-case scenario may materialize."
"September saw the lowest volume of commercial and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since March 2024," said the IPC. "This sharp decline will profoundly limit food availability and the ability of families to feed themselves and access services in the next few months. The upcoming winter season is expected to bring colder temperatures along with rain and potential flooding. Seasonal diseases and increasingly limited access to water and health services are likely to worsen acute malnutrition, especially in densely populated areas, where the risk of epidemics is already high."
"Every time a mission is impeded, the lives of people in need and humanitarians on the ground are put at even greater risk."
IPC projected that the number of people in Gaza classified in IPC Phase 5—defined as "extreme critical levels of acute malnutrition and mortality"—is set to "nearly triple" in the coming months.
Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, CEO of the aid group Mercy Corps, said in a statement that the new IPC findings "come as no surprise given the unrelenting bombardment, continued decimation of what little infrastructure remains, and the insufficient humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza."
"Whether officially declared or not, famine is an imminent, devastating reality that should shame the world," said McKenna. "The disturbing worst-case scenario for an entire population is all but certain without an immediate cease-fire, healthcare support for those already extremely malnourished, and the dramatic scale-up of aid."
The IPC figures were released days after the Biden administration belatedly threatened to suspend U.S. military aid to Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid deliveries.
Days after the administration issued its warning—which took the form of a letter to Israel's defense minister and minister of strategic affairs—Israel allowed dozens of humanitarian aid trucks to enter northern Gaza for the first time in weeks.
Joyce Msuya, the United Nations' acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, described the fresh aid delivery as a mere "trickle" that did not change the fact that "all essential supplies for survival are running out."
"Throughout Gaza, less than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities in the first two weeks of October were facilitated without major incidents or delays," Msuya told members of the U.N. Security Council earlier this week. "Every time a mission is impeded, the lives of people in need and humanitarians on the ground are put at even greater risk."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly "examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza," which could starve hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestine's deputy permanent observer to the United Nations said Saturday that "what is happening in northern Gaza now is a genocide within the genocide" as Israeli forces continued to bombard the region and terrorize the hundreds of thousands of people who remain trapped there, in increasingly desperate need of food and other necessities.
Palestinian Ambassador Majed Bamya's message came after the World Food Program (WFP) warned that Israel's latest offensive in northern Gaza "is having a disastrous impact on food security for thousands of Palestinian families."
"Food distribution points, as well as kitchens and bakeries in North Gaza, have been forced to shut down due to airstrikes, military ground operations, and evacuation orders," the U.N. body said in a statement. "The only functioning bakery in North Gaza, supported by WFP, caught fire after being hit by an explosive munition."
Antoine Renard, WFP's country director for Palestine, said that the northern part of the enclave "is basically cut off and we're not able to operate there."
"WFP has been on the ground since the onset of the crisis," said Renard. "We are committed to delivering lifesaving food every day despite the mounting challenges, but without safe and sustained access, it is virtually impossible to reach the people in need."
What is happening in northern Gaza now is a genocide within the genocide
— Ambassador Majed Bamya 🇵🇸 (@majedbamya) October 13, 2024
No shipments of food, water, or medicine have been able to enter northern Gaza in at least two weeks due to Israel's assault, which has trapped around 400,000 people and killed dozens. Residents have reported witnessing Israeli drones and quadcopters fire on people attempting to flee the famine-stricken area.
Israel's military said Saturday that even shelters for displaced people in northern Gaza are considered part of a "dangerous combat zone," further underscoring that there is no safe place in the besieged enclave.
" Israel is exterminating northern Gaza right now," said Middle East historian and analyst Assal Rad. "There are 400,000 Palestinians there being deliberately starved, with nowhere to go, trapped inside a killing field. There's no outrage or wall-to-wall media coverage because Israel is the one doing it and the victims are Arab."
On Sunday, The Associated Pressreported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that, if implemented, could trap without food or water hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their homes."
Israel is openly talking about starving, displacing and bombing hundreds of thousands of people. This is ethnic cleansing and genocide. https://t.co/0BbkOkztv5 pic.twitter.com/zq9be01IEz
— ishmael n. daro (@iD4RO) October 13, 2024
According to AP, the plan was proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by "a group of retired generals." It would give the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who remain in the northern third of Gaza a week to leave before the area is declared a "closed military zone."
"Those who remain would be considered combatants—meaning military regulations would allow troops to kill them—and denied food, water, medicine, and fuel," AP added. "The plan calls for Israel to maintain control over the north for an indefinite period to attempt to create a new administration without Hamas, splitting the Gaza Strip in two."
While the Netanyahu government has not yet decided whether to "fully carry out" the plan, the outlet observed, "one official with knowledge of the matter said parts of the plan are already being implemented, without specifying which parts."
Citing senior defense officials, the Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported Sunday that the Netanyahu government "is not seeking to revive hostage talks and the political leadership is pushing for the gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip."
"Army commanders in the field who spoke with Haaretz say the recent decision to launch operations in northern Gaza was taken without any in-depth discussion. They said it appeared that the operations were aimed principally at pressuring local residents, who were again told to evacuate the area for the coast as winter is approaching," the newspaper continued. "It is possible that the operation is laying the groundwork for a decision by the government to put into effect the so-called surrender or starve plan of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland."