Jerusalem (UNA/WAFA) – The malnutrition crisis created by Israel in Gaza had a devastating impact on pregnant women, nursing mothers, newborns, and infants under six months of age during periods of intense hostilities and blockade, such as mid-2025, according to an analysis of medical data published by Doctors Without Borders on Thursday.
Doctors Without Borders explained that in four health facilities it runs or supports between late 2024 and early 2026, the organization's teams recorded higher levels of premature birth and death among infants born to mothers affected by malnutrition during pregnancy, high levels of spontaneous abortions, and observed a sharp increase in non-adherence to treatment among malnourished children..
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) linked these findings to Israel’s ban on essential goods and its attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities. Insecurity, displacement, restrictions on aid, and limited access to food and medical care have all had devastating consequences for the health of mothers and newborns. MSF warned that the situation remains extremely precarious despite the supposed ceasefire and urged Israel to immediately allow unimpeded access for aid and vital supplies..
و“The malnutrition crisis is entirely man-made,” said Mercé Rocaspana, MSF’s emergency medical officer. “Before the war, malnutrition in Gaza was virtually nonexistent. For two and a half years, the systematic blockade of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, coupled with insecurity, severely restricted access to food and clean water. Health facilities were forced to shut down and living conditions deteriorated dramatically. As a result, the most vulnerable segments of the population are increasingly at risk of malnutrition.”
Doctors Without Borders analyzed data collected from 200 mothers of newborns receiving treatment in neonatal intensive care units 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 suffered from malnutrition at some point during pregnancy, and 25 percent were still malnourished at the time of delivery..
Ninety percent of babies born to malnourished mothers were born prematurely, and 84 percent had low birth weight—a significantly higher rate than that of babies born to mothers who were not malnourished at birth. Infant mortality rates were twice as high among babies born to malnourished mothers compared to those born to non-malnourished mothers..
Between October 2024 and December 2025, Doctors Without Borders teams admitted 513 infants under six months of age to outpatient therapeutic feeding programs at the Al-Mawasi and Al-Attar primary healthcare centers in Khan Younis. Of those admitted, 91 percent were at risk of stunted growth and development. By December, 200 children had been discharged from the program – only 48 percent had recovered, 7 percent had died, and 7 percent had been referred to a program for older children. Shockingly, 32 percent of the infants did not adhere to the treatment, primarily due to insecurity and displacement.
“The drop in patient admissions in late July and early August 2025 coincided with a period of heightened insecurity and disruptions to food distribution,” says Marina Pomares, the organization’s medical coordinator in Palestine. “Most mothers requested nutritional support even before their children were diagnosed with malnutrition, reflecting widespread food insecurity caused by the Israeli blockade, which effectively prevented food from entering Gaza for months. Families have adopted coping mechanisms, often prioritizing men and children over mothers when limited food supplies are distributed.”".
Before the war, there were no dedicated therapeutic feeding units. Doctors Without Borders teams identified the first cases of malnutrition in children in January 2024. From then until March 2026, the organization admitted 4,950 children under the age of 15 – 98 percent of whom were under the age of five – suffering from severe acute malnutrition to its outpatient and inpatient programs. During the same period, 3,482 pregnant and lactating women were enrolled in outpatient programs..
The ceasefire agreed upon in January 2025 ended in mid-March 2025. By late May 2025, the number of food distribution points had dwindled from approximately 400 to just four operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Furthermore, the blockade imposed on commercial food trucks severely restricted access to food. José Mas, head of the emergency unit at Doctors Without Borders, explained, “The [food distribution] points were militarized and dangerous, and were barely operational or even open, further restricting access to desperately needed food aid.”".
In the following months, facilities supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) saw a sharp increase in patients seeking care due to violence at food distribution points and malnutrition linked to food deprivation. Many women also reported experiencing severe stress and anxiety as a result of the significant risks faced by male family members attempting to obtain food at MSF sites, as well as the intense aerial bombardment and resulting displacement. MSF teams also observed a rise in spontaneous abortions during this period, with extreme stress appearing to be a contributing factor..
Between October 16 and November 30, 2025, it was estimated that nearly three-quarters of Gaza's population faced high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which declared a famine in August, the first of its kind in the Middle East region..
“Israel’s tactical restrictions on food entry, its military-style control of aid corridors and distribution sites, and its targeted attacks on essential infrastructure in Gaza have created an environment where starvation is deliberately used as a tool of control,” adds José Mas, head of the emergency unit at Doctors Without Borders. “While the so-called ceasefire has brought some stability, it remains extremely fragile. Our teams continue to receive new patients suffering from malnutrition, as the people of Gaza are forced to endure deliberately inadequate living conditions and lack access to aid, income, and basic resources. Doctors Without Borders calls on the Israeli authorities, as the occupying power, and allied countries, including the United States, to facilitate the sufficient and sustained entry of vital aid to the people of Gaza to restore acceptable levels of health, nutrition, and dignity.”".
It should be noted that malnutrition in pregnant women, lactating women, and infants under six months of age is generally classified as undernutrition, not moderate or severe acute malnutrition. Patients are considered to have a "poor nutritional status" or to be "at risk of nutritional deficiency."
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