Overview

• Researchers screened nearly 220,000 children at dozens of sites between January 2024 and mid-August 2025, providing the most comprehensive assessment to date.
• About 12,800 children are severely wasted and require urgent therapeutic feeding as hospitals report overwhelming caseloads and critical shortages of treatment foods.
• Wasting rates fell during a six-week ceasefire that eased deliveries, then rose to roughly 16% after an 11-week blockade that began in March 2025.
• U.N.-backed food security experts declared famine in parts of Gaza in August, and Gaza’s health ministry reports 461 malnutrition-related deaths since 2023.
• Israel rejects allegations of starvation and says it facilitates aid, while U.N. agencies cite access constraints and report UNRWA staff, including two screeners, killed during the response.