Scale of children suffering in Gaza revealed

Almost 55,000 children in Gaza are estimated to be acutely malnourished, far more than have so far been identified as victims of the potentially lethal condition, a study published in the Lancet has revealed.

- Jason Burke Andrew Gregory

The study, published today and led by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), offers a month-by-month breakdown through much of the two-year conflict, and shows for the first time a clear link between Israeli restrictions on supplies entering Gaza and levels of malnutrition among children.

Israel has repeatedly denied it is to blame for any hunger in Gaza, saying it allows adequate food into the territory and claiming humanitarian agencies there are ineffective.

The research comes amid cautious optimism that indirect talks between Hamas and Israel under way in Egypt could lead to an end to the war.

The 21-point plan under discussion in Sharm el-Sheikh was announced last week by Donald Trump. It calls for a ceasefire, the return of hostages still held by Hamas and a surge of aid into Gaza "without interference... through the UN and its agencies, and the Red Crescent".

Dr Akihiro Seita, the Unrwa director of health and an author of the study, said more malnourished children would die unless there was an end to hostilities and "unimpeded, competent, international humanitarian nutritional, medical, economic and social services".

The study found two years of war had led to "enormous nutritional consequences" for tens of thousands of children across Gaza.

Researchers used measurements of the circumference of the arms of 220,000 children aged between six months and five years old in Gaza between January 2024, and August 2025, when famine was declared in parts of Gaza by a UN-backed panel of independent experts.