The U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that famine is occurring in Gaza City -- a first in the Middle East -- home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and that it could spread south by the end of next month.

The world’s leading hunger monitor, backed by the United Nations, declared a famine in Gaza for the first time since the war began, warning that half a million Palestinians were facing “catastrophic” conditions.

The UN-backed IPC has found that Gaza now faces famine after 22 months of Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory.