Attachments
THE GAZA STRIP SITUATION UPDATE
Twenty-four months into the war in Gaza, the Gaza Strip population’s nutrition status has continuously deteriorated, with children and pregnant and lactating women most severely affected. The January 2025 ceasefire brought brief improvements in aid access, but these were quickly reversed when a full blockade in March halted the entry of food, fuel, and nutritional and medical supplies for more than two months. Although limited commodities were permitted from May through July, the quantities remained far below urgent needs, and by August and September the aid allowed into Gaza could not compensate for prolonged shortages.
Ongoing hostilities are devastating infrastructure and driving mass displacement, with most of the population now crowded into the designated “humanitarian zone” in Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah under deplorable living conditions.
Access to health and nutrition services continues to shrink, as destruction and closure of facilities in evacuated areas reduce care options. The suspension of disease-prevention programmes has left vulnerable populations, especially children, exposed to infectious disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, blanket supplementary feeding programmes, which are critical in preventing malnutrition, have met less than 5% of their target since July 2025, due to severe access constraints and border restrictions that have reduced the flow of nutrition supplies.
Additionally, access to safe water and sanitation is critically compromised due to fuel shortages, damaged infrastructure, and
nonfunctional sewage systems, resulting in raw or poorly treated wastewater flooding communities which heightens the risk of waterborne diseases.
Food access has worsened due to collapsing markets, cash shortages, and soaring prices. By July 2025, food costs had risen to 9,900% above February ceasefire levels, leaving essentials unaffordable. Prices eased slightly between August and September but remained far beyond the reach of most households. From September 2024 to mid-2025, Gaza shifted from 86% of the population in IPC Food Insecurity Phase 3+ to the entire population in crisis or worse. The number of people in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe) rose nearly fivefold to 641,000 (one-third of the population).
Consequently, children are facing extreme and life-threatening food deprivation. Caregivers report almost no dietary diversity for children 6–23 months, who consume on average only 1.3–1.4 food groups of the recommended 8, mainly legumes and cereals, rarely both, with sharp declines in dairy and egg, meat and fruits and vegetables consumption. Families are increasingly prioritizing children’s food over adults’, reflecting the severity of deprivation.
Acute malnutrition among children under five has more than doubled since September 2024, with 132,000 expected to suffer through mid-2026. Famine levels were reached by Aug 2025 in Gaza City, with Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis expected to follow by end of September 2025 unless meaningful actions are taken. An additional 55,000 pregnant and lactating women and 25,000 infants urgently require nutrition support.