The average daily caloric intake for people in Gaza has dropped to dangerously low levels, according to the latest food security simulations released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As of May, the average Gazan was consuming only 1,400 calories per day—just 67 percent of the minimum 2,100 to 2,300 calories needed for basic survival.
From October 2023 to the end of December that year, the average was slightly higher at 1,510 calories, or 72 percent of the recommended amount. Even under the most optimistic scenario for food availability, FAO’s latest data shows that people in Gaza were receiving only 1,470 calories per day on 11 May, during a complete blockade on aid that began on 2 March.
“These figures highlight systemic and worsening violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,” FAO said in a statement. It pointed to serious breaches related to the right to food, the prohibition against starvation as a weapon of war, and the obligation to protect civilians in conflict zones.
The UN agency underscored the alarming consequences for vulnerable groups, including families without income, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older persons, people with disabilities, and those without adult male relatives who are able to work. The calorie deficit, combined with limited access to basic food staples such as wheat flour, legumes, rice, dairy products, and cooking oil, is pushing large portions of the population into severe hunger and undernutrition.
FAO’s analysis aligns with earlier warnings from UN-backed food security experts, who have raised the alarm about rising levels of acute hunger across the territory.
The crisis persists despite repeated calls from the UN, including Secretary-General António Guterres, urging Israel to allow the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid. These appeals are supported by binding orders from the International Court of Justice, which has instructed Israel to fully cooperate with the UN and ensure timely and sufficient aid reaches civilians in Gaza.
Gaza’s population has fallen to approximately 2.1 million from 2.23 million before the war began in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attacks in Israel. The Palestinian authorities report that 52,400 people have been killed since the start of the conflict, and another 11,000 are feared buried under rubble.
More than 60,000 babies have been born in Gaza during this period, but an unknown number of people have died from indirect causes, including untreated diseases, injuries, and starvation. FAO cited a June 2024 article in The Lancet which estimated that, based on a conservative calculation of four indirect deaths for every direct fatality, as many as 186,000 people could die as a result of the broader impacts of the conflict.
To meet the basic nutritional needs of Gaza’s entire population, FAO calculates that 2,297 tonnes of food—or the equivalent of 120 truckloads—must be delivered every day. On Wednesday, UN agencies requested permission for 130 aid trucks to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Only 50, all carrying flour, were approved for entry by Israeli authorities.
Without a dramatic increase in aid access, FAO warns, the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza will continue to deteriorate.
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