<h1>Famine declaration standards hindered by data gaps and restricted access, delaying formal classification and response.</h1> The IPC famine classification requires confirmation of extreme household food shortages, high acute malnutrition among children, and elevated mortality from starvation or malnutrition-disease interaction; in Gaza, restricted access, damaged health and surveillance systems, and difficulty attributing deaths to malnutrition have produced major evidentiary gaps, delaying formal famine classification and complicating mobilisation and distribution of large-scale food assistance.