UN: Over 54,000 children in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition

More than 54,600 children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to a UN study published on Wednesday.

Between January 2024 and mid-August 2025, health teams from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) examined around 220,000 children to monitor malnutrition cases.

The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, estimated that more than 54,600 children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition, including over 12,800 in critical condition.

Akihiro Seita, UNRWA’s Director of Health and senior author of the study, said that since 7 October 2023, Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed, the population has been repeatedly displaced, and humanitarian aid has been severely restricted.

He added: “Tens of thousands of young children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable malnutrition, disease, and increased risk of death, as a consequence of the ongoing war. Without a lasting ceasefire and peace, this human suffering will continue,”

UNRWA explained that during the 20-month monitoring period, the amount of food, water, fuel, and medicine entering Gaza remained below pre-war levels due to restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on the entry of aid.