Gaza malnutrition and starvation at ‘catastrophic’ levels: Health Ministry

About 67 percent of Gaza’s population is projected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026.

A displaced Palestinian woman from Beit Hanoon receives a hot meal at a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip [File: Bashar Taleb/AFP]

Malnutrition and starvation rates in Gaza have reached “catastrophic” levels, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, despite a United States-brokered “ceasefire” that aims in part to allow more food and medical supplies to enter the Strip as Palestinians face famine.

At least 466 Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation since 2024, with children accounting for one-third of the deaths, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday, in a statement released for World Food Day.

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Elderly Palestinians accounted for the largest share of malnutrition-related deaths in the Strip, with 189 deaths, representing 40.5 percent of the total. The ministry said 11 percent of older people went without a meal for an entire day and 48 percent reduced portions so their families could eat.

The ministry estimated that 74,200 children would require treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027.

Malnutrition was also driving up rates of anaemia among pregnant women to 61 percent in 2026, up from 41 percent before the war began in October 2023. Nearly 4,000 pregnancy losses were recorded in the first half of 2026, more than three times the number recorded in the preceding six months.

More than 1.4 million Palestinians – 67 percent of Gaza’s population – are projected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026 as winter months approach, the ministry warned.

Palestinians hold pots and containers while waiting to receive food from a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, August 21, 2025 [File: Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

Gains in tackling hunger crisis at risk

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said that gains in tackling Gaza’s hunger crisis were fragile. It warned that the situation could worsen due to disruption of supplies entering Strip, and urged that crossings remain open.

A UNICEF report ⁠published on Friday found that while the so-called “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas last October ⁠had allowed more humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to enter, acute malnutrition remains a risk.

The report said scaled-up food and nutrition response and the easing of restrictions on the entry of food and nutrition ⁠supplies helped to avert a prolonged famine after it was declared in August 2025.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said the flow of both commercial and humanitarian supplies must remain predictable and continuous.

“The impact on children obviously will be felt if this situation is not resolved,” he said. “We can’t go back to a situation where children and families are not getting all the supplies, goods, and services that they require.”

Israel said on Wednesday that no commercial goods had entered the Strip in days, blaming the supply shortages on a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas. The Palestinian group dismissed Israel’s claims as “baseless” while Gaza’s Government Media Office condemned Israel’s “blatant disinformation campaign and false statement”.

Israel’s move to halt supplies has cut off a vital source of ⁠food and other goods in a territory where most depend on humanitarian assistance after three years of war, repeated displacement and stringent Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.

Even before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in 2023, an Israeli land, sea and air blockade restricted the flow of food, clean water, fuel and medical supplies from entering the Strip.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has called for international action to ensure unrestricted entry of food and medicine into the Strip. It also called for support to revive local food production.

预计到 2026 年底，加沙约 67% 的人口将面临危机级别的粮食不安全状况，甚至更糟。

一名来自拜特哈努恩的流离失所的巴勒斯坦妇女在加沙地带南部汗尤尼斯的一家慈善厨房享用热餐。[图片：Bashar Taleb/AFP]

据巴勒斯坦卫生部称，尽管美国斡旋达成了旨在允许更多食品和医疗用品进入加沙地带的“停火”协议，以缓解巴勒斯坦人面临的饥荒，但加沙的营养不良和饥饿率已达到“灾难性”水平。

加沙卫生部周五在世界粮食日发表声明称，自 2024 年以来，至少有 466 名巴勒斯坦人死于营养不良和饥饿，其中儿童占死亡人数的三分之一。

图1/3：加沙日益恶化的饥荒危机

列表 2/3：以色列袭击加沙，造成至少 31 人死亡，饥荒危机加剧

全球饥饿报告警告营养不良和饥荒风险日益加剧（共3份，此为第3份）。

在加沙地带，老年人是营养不良相关死亡人数最多的群体，共有189人死亡，占总死亡人数的40.5%。卫生部表示，11%的老年人整天没有进食，48%的老年人为了让家人有饭吃而减少了自己的食物摄入量。

该部估计，到 2027 年 4 月，将有 74,200 名儿童需要接受急性营养不良治疗。

营养不良也导致孕妇贫血率上升，到 2026 年达到 61%，高于 2023 年 10 月战争爆发前的 41%。2026 年上半年记录了近 4000 例妊娠流产，是前六个月记录数量的三倍多。

该部警告称，随着冬季临近，预计到 2026 年底，超过 140 万巴勒斯坦人（占加沙人口的 67%）将面临危机级别的粮食不安全状况，甚至更糟。

2025年8月21日，在加沙地带南部汗尤尼斯，巴勒斯坦人手持锅碗瓢盆，等待从慈善厨房领取食物。[图片：Hatem Khaled/路透社]

应对饥饿危机的成果面临风险

联合国儿童基金会表示，在应对加沙饥饿危机方面取得的成果十分脆弱。该机构警告称，由于进入加沙地带的物资供应中断，局势可能进一步恶化，并敦促各过境点保持开放。

联合国儿童基金会周五发布的一份报告发现，尽管去年10月以色列和哈马斯之间所谓的“停火”使得更多的人道主义援助和商业物资得以进入，但急性营养不良仍然是一个风险。

报告称，扩大粮食和营养应对规模，放宽对粮食和营养供应进入的限制，有助于避免在 2025 年 8 月宣布发生长期饥荒。

联合国儿童基金会发言人里卡多·皮雷斯在日内瓦对记者表示，商业和人道主义物资的流动必须保持可预测性和持续性。

他说：“如果这种情况得不到解决，对儿童的影响显而易见。我们不能回到过去那种儿童和家庭无法获得所需物资、商品和服务的局面。”

以色列周三表示，数日来没有任何商业货物进入加沙地带，并将供应短缺归咎于当地商户与哈马斯之间的税务纠纷。巴勒斯坦方面驳斥以色列的说法“毫无根据”，加沙政府媒体办公室则谴责以色列“公然散布虚假信息和发表不实声明”。

以色列停止供应物资的举动切断了该地区重要的食品和其他物资来源，该地区的大多数人在经历了三年战争、反复流离失所和以色列对援助物资运送的严格限制后，依赖人道主义援助。

早在 2023 年以色列对加沙发动种族灭绝战争之前，以色列就通过陆地、海洋和空中封锁限制了食品、清洁水、燃料和医疗用品进入加沙地带。

加沙卫生部呼吁国际社会采取行动，确保食品和药品不受限制地进入加沙地带。该部门还呼吁各方提供支持，以恢复当地的粮食生产。