Gaza: Severe malnutrition in Gaza has reached a critical stage, with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reporting that cases among children under five at its Gaza City clinic have tripled in just two weeks.
The international medical charity also confirmed that the number of people seeking malnutrition in Gaza care has quadrupled since May. Health authorities and aid organizations blame the worsening crisis on Israel’s continued restrictions on aid entering the besieged territory.
MSF reported that last week, one in four children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza showed signs of malnutrition. With over 1,000 staff working in the strip, MSF remains one of the few international organizations still able to provide emergency services, including maternity care and surgeries.
At least 122 people have died from starvation in Gaza so far, including nine in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that nearly one-third of the population is not eating for days, and 90,000 women and children urgently need nutrition support.
Israel has denied accusations of deliberately causing starvation and instead blamed the UN for distribution failures. Meanwhile, the UN has stated that Israeli restrictions severely limit its ability to operate across Gaza and access over 400 aid points, worsening the crisis of malnutrition in Gaza.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has described the situation as both a humanitarian and moral crisis, urging global leaders to act. Leaders from the UK, France, and Germany have jointly called for Israel to lift aid restrictions and declared the Gaza crisis intolerable. French President Emmanuel Macron also pledged to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
While Israel has allowed some airdrops via Jordan and the UAE, aid groups argue that aerial deliveries are ineffective compared to full-scale land access. Hamas has condemned the air operations as symbolic and insufficient, as they fail to address the worsening malnutrition in Gaza.
With negotiations for a ceasefire currently stalled and hunger deaths rising, international pressure on Israel continues to grow. As the conflict enters a deadlier phase, the crisis of severe malnutrition in Gaza has become an urgent call for intervention.
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