Famine has struck an area of Gaza and will likely spread over the next month, a global hunger monitor determined on Friday.

The world's leading authority on food crises says the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread without an immediate ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

President Trump is keeping his foreign policy focus on Russia and Ukraine as global outrage grows over Israel’s plans to launch a major new offensive in the Gaza Strip and a declaration of famine on Friday that underscored the catastrophic suffering of Palestinians.

"An entire population is being pushed into starvation, destitution, and death,” said Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister.

For an area to be experiencing famine, at least 30 percent of children under 5 must be considered acutely malnourished by height and weight measures. Using the arm circumference method, the I.P.C. said, the accepted threshold dropped to 15 percent.

Israel says "there is no famine in Gaza" after the IPC reports more than 500,000 people in the Strip are facing "starvation, destitution and death".