Two-thirds of Gaza may face acute hunger by year-end despite improvements

GAZA, July 24 (Agencies): More than two-thirds of Gazans could face acute hunger by the year-end as humanitarian agencies cut aid flows due to funding shortages, a global hunger monitor said on Wednesday.

The latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found that acute malnutrition levels, particularly among children, had declined significantly after food supplies and nutrition services were stepped up following the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

However, it said those gains risk being reversed.

Food consumption remains inadequate for most families, and some households resort to begging and scavenging for food, the report said.

Between mid-April and the end of June, more than 1.2 million people, or about 59 per cent of Gaza's population, faced acute hunger - defined as crisis-level or worse - including around 212,000 people in emergency conditions, the IPC said.

That level is expected to rise to more than 1.4 million people, or 67 per cent by December.

A majority of Gazans are dependent on aid supplies, following two years of war, repeated displacement and severe restrictions imposed by Israel on aid deliveries.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday that four Palestinians were shot dead in the north of the occupied West Bank, while Israel's rescue services reported one Israeli killed in the clashes. "Four people were killed and four others wounded, including three in critical condition, in Tel," the Palestinian ministry said.

Earlier, more than 4,200 Israeli settlers and members of far-right groups have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also visited the compound under heavy police protection on Thursday during the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, Al Jazeera reported.

Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples, believed by Jews to have stood at the site known as the Temple Mount.

Muslims regard the same site as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest place.

The Jerusalem governorate of the Palestinian Authority said 4,288 Israelis had entered the compound by Thursday afternoon, adding that the number was expected to continue rising until sunset and could reach 5,000, surpassing previous records for the holiday.

The UN's cultural agency on Friday placed locations including a Lebanese castle recently conquered by Israeli forces and an archaeological site in the occupied West Bank on its list of World Heritage in Danger.

Beaufort Castle, a Crusader fortress also known as Qalaat al-Shakif, was captured by Israeli forces invading Lebanon in May as part of their war with militant group Hezbollah.

It is one of five castles in the Jabal Amel area of southern Lebanon listed together by UNESCO. The mountainous area has come under repeated Israeli bombardment during the war.

UNESCO said the fortresses had sustained damage and faced ongoing threats from the conflict "serious enough to justify resorting to an emergency procedure".

Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame told AFP the endangered listing was "a remarkable achievement in the effort to protect these important Lebanese historical landmarks".