The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has issued its gravest warning yet: a worst-case famine scenario is unfolding across the Gaza Strip.
This crisis is not abstract; it is immediate, escalating, and devastating. Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, and the collapse of health systems, older people are among the first and worst affected.
Older people face grave risks
Across Gaza, older people, who are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition, are facing hunger, dehydration, and the complete breakdown of essential health services. Those with chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and mobility impairments, now face life-threatening deprivation. Access to medication, assistive devices, clean water, and food has disappeared. For older people with disabilities, the situation is even more dire.
As the Gaza Strip faces mass starvation, aid workers are now lining up alongside other civilians for scarce food, risking being shot just to feed their families. Without immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access, Gaza faces not only the loss of civilian lives but also the collapse of the systems designed to protect them.
On-the-ground reality
According to IPC data and humanitarian agencies on the ground:
- Famine thresholds for food consumption have already been met across much of Gaza.
- Acute malnutrition has reached crisis levels, particularly in Gaza City.
- Hospitals are non-functional, with stocks of essential medicines and supplies at zero.
- Medical evacuations are blocked, leaving the most vulnerable stranded without care.
Urgent action is needed
HelpAge International is urgently calling for:
- An immediate and permanent ceasefire.
- Full, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver food, medical care, and essentials to all Palestinians in Gaza, including older people.
- Prioritised treatment of older individuals with chronic illnesses or disabilities.
- Recognition that famine is already unfolding — without delay or denial. Older people are falling through the cracks and will continue to die unless decisive action is taken.
A call for humanity
Older people in Gaza are not merely numbers. They are individuals with histories, voices and rights; the roots of their communities and contributors to their families and society. Their resilience cannot replace their right to dignity, care, and protection.
The world must respond — not with statements, but with safe access, food, and life-saving care. Every delay costs lives. And the lives of older people matter.
Read the full report here.