Around 12,000 under-fives in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, the World Health Organization said. The alert was issued on Thursday as deaths of children from hunger continue to rise and humanitarian supplies lag well behind requirements.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said from the agency’s headquarters in Geneva: “In July, the number children under five with acute malnutrition in Gaza totalled nearly 12,000, the highest number ever recorded in a single month.
UNICEF numbers show that even between June and July the malnourished child figure has almost doubled between both months, 6,344 to 11,877. Of these, 2,500 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Since the start of 2025, 99 people have died from hunger-related causes in Gaza. At least 35 of them were children. Nearly all of those children — 29 — were under five.
WHO officials say the scale of need is far beyond current aid delivery. Supplies like baby formula and therapeutic food are in short supply, and the volume of nutritional aid entering the territory isn’t keeping up.
“The overall volume of nutrition supplies remains completely insufficient to prevent further deterioration,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative for the occupied Palestinian Territory. “The market needs to be flooded. There needs to be dietary diversity.”
Peeperkorn spoke via video, calling for sustained and expanded humanitarian access “through all possible routes.”
The conditions described by WHO align with broader warnings from aid organizations. A global hunger monitor recently stated that famine is now “unfolding” in Gaza. That isn’t hyperbole. Starvation is spreading. Children are dying. And access for humanitarian workers is still being severely restricted.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption levels across Gaza are the lowest they’ve been since the war began. As of late July, 81 percent of households reported poor food consumption. Just three months ago, that number was 33 percent.
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Even as the data gets worse, the flow of aid remains sluggish. Crossing points into Gaza are heavily restricted. Fuel shortages make distribution even harder. And most local markets have little or nothing left on the shelves.
What does it mean when a child under five becomes acutely malnourished? Their immune systems weaken. Their bodies stop growing. Many become too weak to cry. Without immediate treatment, they can die within days.
WHO says it is currently supporting four active malnutrition centers in Gaza. But it’s not enough. Supplies aren’t arriving fast enough. Needs are outpacing resources.
Dr. Tedros called for greater political pressure to open more aid corridors. “Lives are at stake,” he said, adding that international actors must act before the numbers rise further.
For families inside Gaza, the daily struggle for food continues with little clarity about what comes next. And for thousands of children, that uncertainty could mean not surviving another month.
