"An entire population is being pushed into starvation, destitution, and death,” said Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister.

Israel says "there is no famine in Gaza" after the IPC reports more than 500,000 people in the Strip are facing "starvation, destitution and death".

Parts of Gaza are officially experiencing a “man-made” famine, according to a Friday report by a United Nations-backed initiative, which added that the situation is expected to worsen after months of relentless conflict.

For nearly two years, Israeli and American officials have largely ignored pleas to end policies that limit food aid and other humanitarian supplies for millions of Palestinians.

Famine has been determined in Gaza Governorate, where Gaza City is located, according to a warning issued Friday by the IPC.

By Olivia Le Poidevin and Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA CITY/GENEVA/CAIRO (Reuters) -The hunger crisis in Gaza is at a tipping point, with critically low supplies of fortified milk and special nutritious pastes exacerbating food shortages and pushing greater numbers of children into starvation,

A mother has told the BBC her five-year-old daughter has lost almost half of her body weight due to the famine in Gaza City. Lamia Hijjeh, whose family has been displaced several times during the war, has lost 8.5kg and cannot walk, according to her mother Rida.