Gaza health ministry says malnutrition has reached catastrophic levels

Deaths from malnutrition and starvation since 2024

466 deaths

At least 466 Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation since 2024, a third of them children, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday, World Food Day.

The ministry's figures

• 189 deaths among older people
• 74,200 children to treat by April 2027
• 1.4 million facing crisis-level hunger
• 61 per cent of pregnant women anaemic

The ministry says 74,200 children will need treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027, and more than 1.4 million people face crisis-level hunger or worse through the end of 2026.

We can't go back to a situation where children and families are not getting all the supplies, goods, and services that they require.

— Ricardo Pires, UNICEF spokesperson

Israel said Wednesday that no commercial goods had entered the Strip in days, blaming a tax dispute between local merchants and Hamas. Hamas called the claim baseless.