Gaza’s Health Ministry says malnutrition and starvation have reached catastrophic levels, despite a year-old ceasefire intended in part to increase food and medical supplies entering the territory. The ministry reported at least 466 deaths from malnutrition and starvation since 2024, with children accounting for about one-third.
Older people make up a large share of the recorded deaths: the ministry reported 189, or 40.5 percent of the total. It estimates that 74,200 children will need treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027. More than 1.4 million people—about 67 percent of Gaza’s population—are projected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026.
The ministry also reported that anaemia affected 61 percent of pregnant women in 2026, compared with 41 percent before the war began in October 2023. It said nearly 4,000 pregnancy losses occurred in the first half of this year, more than three times the number in the previous six months.
UNICEF says progress in addressing hunger remains fragile and that food and humanitarian supplies must enter predictably and continuously. Its latest report says expanded aid helped avert a prolonged famine, but acute malnutrition remains a serious risk. Gaza’s Health Ministry has called for unrestricted entry of food and medicine and support for local food production.
