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.

The report also found that more than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing Phase 5 conditions, which are characterized as catastrophic levels of food insecurity. About 1.07 million people, 54% of the population, are facing Phase 4 conditions, characterized as emergency levels of food insecurity.

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".

Hospital officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed at least 25 Palestinians sheltering in tents or seeking scarce food aid.

Famine has struck an area of Gaza and will likely spread over the next month, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday.

Food-security experts said a famine has taken hold in the Gaza City area, the first-ever such determination in the Middle East and one that puts more pressure on Israel.

The world's leading authority on food crises says the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread without an immediate ceasefire and an end to restrictions on human

Hospital officials say Palestinians sheltering in tents or seeking scarce food aid were among at least 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.