Many Palestinian households are resorting to begging or scavenging in rubbish for food, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report confirming for the first time that a famine is occurring in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

The report by the IPC’s Famine Review Committee said that 28 per cent of respondents in Gaza governorate — where 35pc of the population is projected to face famine conditions by the end of September — said they had resorted to begging for food.

A further 15pc of people said that they had scavenged in rubbish to try to source food, while nearly 40pc had collected rubbish for sale to raise money to eat.

More than one-third of respondents in the Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surrounding areas, reported “very severe” hunger in the household, indicative of Phase 5 or famine conditions under the IPC classification system.