Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned that malnutrition and starvation have reached “catastrophic” levels across the besieged territory, reporting hundreds of related deaths, widespread child malnutrition and worsening maternal health amid Israel’s genocidal war and continuing restrictions on supplies.
In a statement released on Friday to mark World Food Day, the ministry said at least 466 Palestinians had died from malnutrition and starvation since 2024, including 157 children, who account for approximately one-third of all recorded deaths. Older Palestinians represented the largest share of fatalities, with 189 deaths, or 40.5 percent of the total.
The ministry said 11 percent of older people went without food for an entire day, while 48 percent reduced their meal portions so that other family members could eat.
According to the ministry, 158,001 cases of acute malnutrition among children under five were recorded between 2024 and August 2026, including 28,716 severe cases posing life-threatening risks.
The ministry estimated that 74,200 children would require treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027, warning that the consequences of prolonged food shortages continue to threaten the health and survival of Gaza’s youngest residents.
Maternal health has also deteriorated. The ministry reported that anaemia among pregnant women reached 61 percent in 2026, compared with 41 percent before the war began in October 2023.
Nearly 4,000 pregnancy losses were recorded during the first half of 2026, more than three times the number reported in the preceding six months. The ministry also said that one in every three pregnancies was classified as high-risk.
It stressed that access to adequate food is a fundamental human right and called on the international community and the United Nations to ensure the unrestricted entry of food, medicine and other essential supplies into Gaza. It also urged support for efforts to revive local food production.
More than 1.4 million Palestinians -- approximately 67 percent of Gaza’s population -- are projected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026, as winter approaches and aid agencies warn that fragile progress in tackling hunger could be reversed.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that progress in addressing Gaza’s hunger crisis remains fragile and could be reversed if the flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies is disrupted.
A UNICEF report published on Friday found that the ceasefire between Israel and the resistance movement Hamas, which took effect last October, had enabled increased deliveries of humanitarian aid and commercial goods. However, acute malnutrition remained a serious concern.
The report said the expansion of food and nutrition programs, together with the easing of restrictions on incoming supplies, had helped avert a prolonged famine following its declaration in Gaza Governorate in August 2025.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires stressed that commercial and humanitarian deliveries must remain predictable and continuous.
“The impact on children obviously will be felt if this situation is not resolved,” he said, warning against a return to conditions in which children and families are deprived of essential supplies, goods and services.
UNICEF urged that border crossings remain open to ensure the sustained delivery of food and nutritional supplies and to prevent further deterioration in living conditions.
The warning comes despite a United States-brokered ceasefire intended, in part, to facilitate the entry of food and medical assistance into the Strip.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported more than 74,000 Palestinian deaths since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched the genocidal war against the blockaded Palestinian territory. The scale of civilian casualties and the conduct of the military offensive remain central to international scrutiny of the war.
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