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Nearly one in six children in Gaza are acutely malnourished after two years of conflict, a study published Thursday in The Lancet has revealed, highlighting the devastating impact of severe food shortages in the Palestinian territory.
The research, funded by the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, assessed over 200,000 children under five between January 2024 and August 2025 at UNRWA facilities. It found that 15.8 percent of those examined suffered from acute malnutrition—a condition that causes severe weight loss and can lead to long-term health problems. Extrapolating the figures, researchers estimate that around 55,000 children in Gaza are affected.
Acute malnutrition rates rose sharply following an Israeli aid blockade from March to May 2025. The study comes months after the UN declared famine conditions in parts of Gaza in August, a claim Israel has disputed.
International paediatricians not involved in the research noted limitations, including that the children studied had some access to health services. Nevertheless, they warned that “restrictions on food and assistance have resulted in severe malnutrition among children in the Gaza Strip,” with consequences likely to affect future generations’ health and development.
The conflict stems from Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has resulted in over 67,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, figures the UN deems credible.
