Worst-case scenario in confirmed in Gaza: Famine unfolds with over 20,000 children hospitalised for acute malnutrition

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert confirms what Action Against Hunger teams in the Gaza Strip have been observing for months: families in Gaza are experiencing or at the precipice of famine.

More than 20,000 children have been admitted to hospital for acute malnutrition, and 3,000 of them are in a serious condition. Since 17 July, at least 16 children under the age of five have died from causes directly related to hunger.

“Famine is not just a statistic. It is the result of a slow and painful process that shrinks organs, collapses the immune system and impairs cognitive abilities,” explains Natalia Anguera, Action Against Hunger’s head of operations for the Middle East. “Every day that passes without full and safe access to food, we are condemning thousands of people to avoidable suffering.“

“No new aid delivery model will work, not a dock, not an air drop, not an isolated centre – unless the siege is lifted completely and permanently. Humanitarian access is the problem, not logistics,” says Natalia Anguera, adding: “The aid that arrives is insufficient and, in many cases, inadequate: most food requires water and fuel for cooking, resources that are virtually non-existent. In addition, current distribution points are far away, dangerous to reach and operate on a first-come, first-served basis, which excludes the most vulnerable.“

The survival strategies faced by families—which include fasting, diluting meals, rationing bread for children, borrowing, begging and even scavenging through rubbish—are no longer used to ‘stretch’ food, but to increase families’ chances of mere survival.

Despite facing severe hunger themselves, Action Against Hunger teams continue to respond

The tireless work of our teams in the Gaza Strip has enabled us to continue providing care to thousands of children and women. The current number of malnourished children we are treating is the highest since the war began. Nearly 400 children under the age of five are receiving treatment for malnutrition in our clinics, compared to fewer than 50 during the ceasefire and the period immediately following it. This represents a 700% increase since the resumption of hostilities.

In July, more than a quarter of pregnant and breastfeeding women screened by our teams were malnourished, a worrying increase from approximately 16% in June 2025.

A member of Action Against Hunger’s technical nutrition team in Gaza describes the situation: “The first thing I saw when I entered Gaza was destroyed buildings and areas with no signs of life. In the displacement camps, children collected food in silence, avoided eye contact and retreated to their tents, trying to protect what dignity they had left in a situation that had taken so much from them.“

300,000 children under the age of five and 150,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are in urgent need of therapeutic supplements. However, critical supplies to treat malnutrition – such as therapeutic foods, supplements for infants and micronutrients for pregnant women – are extremely scarce. “A trickle of aid is not enough to sustain a population of two million people who have been on the brink of famine for almost two years,” says Natalia Anguera. “We need all administrative barriers to the import of goods to be removed, all borders to be open and operational, and access to all areas of the Gaza Strip to be allowed.”

In the face of this nutritional and food collapse, nearly 100 Action Against Hunger professionals work every day inside the Gaza Strip. Our interventions focus on supporting nutrition and food security programmes, distributing ready-to-eat-therapeutic food, managing feeding spaces for infants and young children, and providing community services to treat acute malnutrition, even in extremely insecure contexts such as displacement camps or damaged health centres.

An urgent call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire

Action Against Hunger reiterates its commitment to initiatives which facilitate impartial, rapid and evidence-based humanitarian action, reaching the people who need it most.

Action Against Hunger urgently calls on all parties involved to:

• Secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire and release of hostages.
• Safe, regular and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid at all points across and within the Gaza Strip.
• The full reopening of border crossings and corridors, including the restoration of commercial goods flows.
• The assurance of a humanitarian response system led by the UN and independent organisations.