Famine plays out in Gaza as children denied nourishing food supplements

22/8/2025 15:14

The hunger crisis in Gaza is at a tipping point, with critically low supplies of fortified milk and special nutritious pastes exacerbating food shortages and pushing greater numbers of children into starvation, according to aid agencies, malnutrition experts and the United Nations.



An interim statement it released in late July said famine was "playing out" in Gaza. Reuters has previously reported the IPC's struggle to get access to data required to assess the crisis.



After a global outcry at Israel severely restricting aid from March, its military began allowing more food into Gaza in late July.



But volumes are too small and distribution too chaotic to stop more people becoming malnourished, while those who are already starving or vulnerable are not getting life-saving supplements, three hunger experts and aid workers from six agencies told Reuters.



According to figures from Gaza's Health Ministry, verified by the World Health Organisation, deaths from malnutrition and starvation are spiking.



In the 22 months following the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, 89 fatalities were attributed to malnutrition or starvation, mostly children under 18. In just the first 20 days of August, there were 133 deaths, including 25 under 18s, the ministry said on Wednesday.