Doctors Without Borders staff Mohammed Shehada, Nursing Activities Manager at Al-Helou Hospital, in Gaza City, checks on a newborn with low-weight lying in an incubator. Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2026 © Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
Israel’s tactical restrictions on the entry of food, the militarisation of aid corridors and distribution sites, and the targeted attacks on Gaza’s essential infrastructure have created an environment in which hunger is deliberately used as a means of control over the population.José Mas, MSF Head of Emergencies
Devastating impacts of malnutrition during pregnancy
“The malnutrition crisis is entirely manufactured,” says Mercè Rocaspana, Doctors Without Borders referent for emergencies. "Before the war malnutrition in Gaza was almost non-existent. For 2.5 years, the systematic blockade to humanitarian aid and commercial goods on top of insecurity have severely restricted access to food and clean water. Health care facilities have been forced out of service and living conditions have profoundly deteriorated. As a result, vulnerable groups of people are placed at heightened risk of malnutrition.”
Doctors Without Borders analysed data collected from 201 mothers of newborns receiving treatment in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at Al Nasser and Al Helou hospitals, in Khan Younis and Gaza City, between June 2025 and January 2026. More than half of the women were affected by malnutrition* at some point during their pregnancy, and 25 percent were still malnourished during delivery.
Ninety percent of the babies born to mothers affected by malnutrition were born prematurely and 84 percent had low birth weight — a much higher incidence than in babies born to mothers with no malnutrition when giving birth. Neonatal mortality was twice as high among infants born to mothers affected by malnutrition compared with those born to mothers without malnutrition.
Displacement and insecurity prevent treatment
Between October 2024 and December 2025, Doctors Without Borders teams admitted 513 infants under six months into outpatient therapeutic feeding programs at Al Mawasi and Al Attar primary health care facilities in Khan Younis. Of those admitted, 91 percent were at risk of poor growth and development. By December, 200 infants were no longer in the program — only 48 percent of those were cured, 7 percent died, 7 percent were referred to a program for older children, and a staggering 32 percent defaulted, primarily related to insecurity and displacement.
“Reduced admissions in late July and early August 2025 coincided with a period of intensified insecurity and disruptions to food distributions,” says Marina Pomares, medical coordinator for Palestine. “Most mothers requested nutrition support even when children were not yet identified with malnutrition, reflecting widespread food insecurity from Israel’s imposed blockade, which effectively prevented food from entering Gaza for months. Families adopted coping mechanisms, often prioritising men and children over mothers when distributing limited food.”
Doctors Without Borders staff check medical books at the neonatal intensive care unit of Al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City, Occupied Palestinian Territory. 2026 © Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
A manufactured malnutrition crisis
Prior to the war, there were no dedicated therapeutic feeding units. Doctors Without Borders teams identified the first cases of child malnutrition in January 2024. Between then and March 2026, Doctors Without Borders admitted 4,950 children under 15 years old — 98 percent under 5 — for acute malnutrition in ambulatory and inpatient programs. During the same period, 3,482 pregnant and breastfeeding women were enrolled in ambulatory programs.
“My youngest son died at five months due to severe malnutrition,” says Mona, a 23-year-old woman treated by Doctors Without Borders. “I suffered malnutrition myself during pregnancy and dealt with diarrhoea and weakness. I live in a partially destroyed house. My husband used to be a fisherman with a small boat, which the Israeli shelling destroyed. We have no steady income.”
The January 2025 ceasefire ended in mid-March 2025. By late May 2025, food distribution points reduced from around 400 to just four under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). On top of this, the blockade on commercial food trucks drastically limited access to food. “The [food distribution] points were militarised and deadly, barely functioning, or open at the same time, further restricting access to much-needed food assistance,” says José Mas, head of the Doctors Without Borders emergency unit.
In the months following, Doctors Without Borders-supported facilities experienced a sharp increase in patients seeking care due to violence perpetrated at food distribution points and malnutrition linked to the deprivation of food. Many women also reported experiencing extreme stress and anxiety related to the significant risks faced by male family members attempting to secure food at GHF sites and intense aerial bombardments and resulting displacement. Doctors Without Borders teams observed a high number of miscarriages during this period, with high stress identified as a contributing factor.
Unprecedented levels of malnutrition declared
Between 16 October and 30 November 2025, around three quarters of the population in Gaza were estimated to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), who had declared a famine in August — the first ever in the Middle East region.
“Israel’s tactical restrictions on the entry of food, the militarization of aid corridors and distribution sites, and the targeted attacks on Gaza’s essential infrastructure have created an environment in which hunger is deliberately used as a means of control over the population,” says José Mas, Doctors Without Borders head of emergencies.
“While the current so-called ceasefire has seen some stability in the situation, it is still extremely fragile. Our teams continue to admit new patients for malnutrition as the people of Gaza are forced to endure deliberate undignified living conditions, and lack access to assistance, income, and basic resources. MSF calls on Israeli authorities, as an occupying power, – and allied states including the US - to facilitate adequate and sustained entry of vital assistance for people living in Gaza to restore respectable levels of health, nutrition, and dignity.”
Testimonies from Doctors Without Borders patients
Samar Abu Mustafa, 32 year-old-woman
In the early months of the pregnancy, I was diagnosed with malnutrition. I started to follow-up at an MSF clinic. The baby is now three months old, and I don't know how I will provide diapers and milk, nor how I will provide food for my other daughters. There is no income and no support. My eyesight is weak and I was injured the first day we were displaced with shrapnel in my lung. My husband was run over by a car by mistake and wounded.
There is nothing apart from food parcels from the World Food Program and community kitchens. Every six months, we might get a food parcel once. It's barely enough. For a long time, we haven't eaten anything nutritious and the baby does not get enough milk from me, so I am forced to provide formula, but I don’t have money for it. I have just one remaining can of milk.
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2026 © Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
Mahmoud Hamza Badr Shabana, 29-year-old man
We are displaced in a tent — me, my wife, and this child. We discovered that he has malnutrition when he was two months old. We lack frozen goods and warm meals. Since the day we left Rafah, I have only received one carton of food and a sack of flour once. I cannot afford to buy food because it is so expensive.
Despite the ceasefire, life is still very difficult. During the famine, it was the worst period: we couldn't find anything, and my wife was pregnant. Every day we would eat lentils. There was no bread, no flour, nothing. We got through it, thank God it passed. Until now, my wife and son are still following up for malnutrition.
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2026 © Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
Sahar Nafez Salem, 24-year-old woman
We have been displaced for about a year now. We have suffered a lot during the war. It's very tiring for a pregnant woman. We rely on the charity kitchen. We eat lunch from it and save some for dinner. When I did the pregnancy tests, they also found out I had malnutrition. Living conditions in the tents are difficult in every way — fleas and insects have spread a lot, and there is sand everywhere.
We rarely buy things from the supermarket, we mostly rely on canned goods, rice, lentils, and chickpeas when they are available. Throughout the week we try to manage to get lunch for our poor children every Friday, so we can bring them joy, but for all week long, almost everything is from charity kitchens. The last time I received aid was during Ramadan. When bread, flour, and rice ran out . . . and the quantities were very small, we left them just for the young children, and adults had only one meal.
Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2026 © Nour Alsaqqa/MSF
*Note: Malnutrition in pregnant and breastfeeding people and infants under 6 months old is generally classified as undernutrition, rather than moderate or severe acute malnutrition. Patients have a ‘poor nutritional status’ or are ‘nutritionally at risk’.
Will you support our emergency response work?
Help us provide lifesaving medical care during emergencies by making a donation today.
