Gaza:Malnutrition and starvation have claimed the lives of 466 individuals in the Gaza Strip, with children and elderly people facing severe hunger amid ongoing conflict.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, medical sources have issued warnings about the dire levels of malnutrition, which have been exacerbated by the conflict with Israel. This crisis has persisted into its third year, marking hunger as an everyday struggle for the population.
The sources highlighted that since 2024, 466 deaths linked to malnutrition and starvation have been recorded. They project that over 1.4 million Palestinians, constituting 67% of the population, will experience crisis-level food insecurity or worse by the end of 2026. This follows the official declaration of famine in Gaza Governorate in August 2025.
Alarmingly, 157 of the starvation-related deaths were children, equating to approximately one-third of the total. Between 2024 and August 2026, there have been 158,001 recorded cases of acute malnutrition in children under five, with 28,716 cases deemed severe and life-threatening. The under-five mortality rate significantly increased from 13.6 to 33.4 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2022 and 2025. Furthermore, 12.2% of children are suffering from stunting, with 74,200 children anticipated to need treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027.
Maternal health is also in decline, with anemia affecting 61% of pregnant women in 2026, up from 41% before the conflict. During the first half of 2026, nearly 4,000 pregnancy losses were reported, tripling the figures from the previous six months, with one in three pregnancies classified as high-risk.
Older adults have experienced the highest share of malnutrition-related deaths, with 189 fatalities, accounting for 40.5% of the total. Additionally, 11% of the elderly population reportedly went a whole day without eating, and 48% have reduced their food portions to feed their families. Meanwhile, 68% have either stopped taking or reduced their medication doses due to the unavailability of medicines.