OMM Newsroom
At least 466 Palestinians, including 157 children, have died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza since 2024, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday.
The figures were released on World Food Day, observed annually on Oct. 16. The ministry said 189 of the people who died were elderly, representing 40.5% of the total.
More than 1.4 million people — around 67% of Gaza’s population — are expected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through the end of 2026. The UN declared famine in Gaza in August 2025.
Malnutrition affects children and pregnant women
More than 158,000 cases of acute malnutrition among children under five were recorded from 2024 through August 2026, the ministry said. Of these children, 18% had severe acute malnutrition that threatened their lives, while 12.2% experienced stunting.
The ministry said the mortality rate among children under five rose from 13.6 to 33.4 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2022 and 2025. It estimated that 74,200 children will need treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027.
Among pregnant women, anemia prevalence reached 61% in 2026, up from 41% before the war. Around 4,000 pregnancy losses were recorded in the first half of 2026, more than three times the number in the previous six months, the ministry said. It added that one in three pregnancies in Gaza is now classified as high-risk.
“Malnutrition and starvation rates in Gaza have reached catastrophic levels that are killing children, the elderly and vulnerable groups,” the ministry said, adding that the food crisis is increasingly affecting mothers and unborn children.
Ministry calls for more aid access
Palestinian government bodies and rights organizations have accused Israeli authorities of using starvation as a weapon during the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023.
Israel tightened restrictions on crossings in March 2025, preventing thousands of aid trucks waiting at border crossings from entering Gaza. The restrictions followed widespread hunger in northern Gaza amid the blockade and limits on food and relief supplies. Some residents were forced to eat animal feed and wild plants.
In late May 2025, Israel allowed 87 aid trucks into Gaza for the first time in 81 days, according to Gaza’s government media office. Aid then entered on a limited and intermittent basis under strict restrictions until February 2026, when Israel allowed a limited increase in truck deliveries under a ceasefire agreement.
Palestinian officials said the shipments still did not contain sufficient quantities of essential food. Gaza’s government media office said Israel had allowed in about 34% of the humanitarian aid trucks agreed upon.
The Health Ministry called on the international community and the UN to ensure the safe, sustained and unrestricted entry of food, therapeutic nutritional supplements and medicines. It urged that children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and elderly people be prioritized, and called for support to revive local food production.
The ministry’s figures come amid the humanitarian consequences of the war, which has caused extensive damage to infrastructure, health facilities and food production. Damage to farmland, food production facilities and water networks has undermined residents’ ability to meet basic needs locally. Repeated displacement, lost income and rising prices have further increased families’ reliance on humanitarian aid, while access remains irregular.
