UN: Malnutrition Crisis in Gaza Worsens as Thousands of Children Face Starvation
More than 2,700 children under the age of five in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, nearly tripling the rate from just three months ago, the United Nations reported Thursday, underscoring the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), screenings conducted in late May found that 5.8 percent of nearly 47,000 young children were suffering from acute malnutrition. This figure marks a significant spike from February, when the crisis was already deemed alarming.
“The number of children with severe acute malnutrition requiring hospital care has also roughly doubled in May,” the UN report noted.
Since January, over 16,500 children under five have received treatment for severe malnutrition in Gaza, including at least 141 cases with complications needing urgent hospitalization.
Despite the surge, there are currently only four operational stabilization centers in Gaza equipped to treat children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications. Two of those centers, located in North Gaza and Rafah, have been forced to suspend operations due to ongoing violence, leaving thousands of children without access to lifesaving care.
“This is a critical emergency,” the report warned. “Children in areas without functioning centers are being left to suffer without the medical help they need to survive.”
The dire malnutrition figures come amid warnings from global health authorities that Gaza’s entire population is teetering on the brink of famine. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated this week that the territory’s “health system is collapsing” under the strain of war, displacement, and lack of supplies.
In a separate appeal, the WHO urgently called for protection of two of Gaza’s last major functioning hospitals — the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital — saying they are in imminent danger of shutting down.
“The relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza has been going on for too long. It must end immediately,” the WHO said in a statement. “Patients seeking refuge and care must not risk losing their lives trying to reach hospitals.”
The health crisis is exacerbated by repeated Israeli airstrikes and restrictions on aid access, which humanitarian groups say have deliberately crippled Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure.
