Famine is looming in the northern Gaza Strip amid increased hostilities by Israel and a near-halt in food aid, a UN-backed assessment said on Saturday. Israeli forces have intensified their brutal assault and siege of large swathes of devastated northern Gaza since early October, where evacuation orders are in place. Aid shipments allowed to enter the Gaza Strip were now lower than at any time since October 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report. The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of “an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occ…