UN agencies warn of famine, disease, and irreversible harm to Gaza’s children as Israel blocks aid and shuts down humanitarian corridors, forcing hundreds of thousands into overcrowded shelters with no access to clean water, food, or medical care.
By Nir Hasson, Reposted from Haaretz, April 17, 2025
Thousands of children in Gaza are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to a United Nations report issued Tuesday, after Israel cut off humanitarian aid and all food shipments to the enclave six weeks ago.
After coming under right-wing criticism for publicly discussing plans for humanitarian aid distribution, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israel has no intention of resuming food or other deliveries to Gaza’s civilian population in the near future. With the UN now describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as the worst since the war began, experts are warning of impending famine and mass death.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 3,696 children were admitted to hospitals for acute malnutrition out of 91,769 children screened, up sharply from 2,027 out of 83,823 the previous month.
These figures do not include the first two weeks of April, but it is likely that the situation has further deteriorated. Aid organizations have been forced to shut down 60 percent of their malnutrition treatment centers in Gaza, either due to evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces or ongoing military activity. The number of children receiving critical nutritional supplements dropped by 70 percent in March.
Two weeks ago, the UN’s World Food Program closed its subsidized bakeries, a crucial part of the Gazan diet amid ongoing shortages of flour and cooking gas. Since then, approximately one million Gazans have relied on hot meals distributed daily by 175 community kitchens. These meals typically consist of rice with lentils, hummus, or beans.
According to the UN statement, for many Gazans, this is their primary food source, but it falls far short of meeting nutritional needs. Fresh foods − including meat, dairy, eggs, and produce − are extremely scarce. In northern Gaza, small quantities of locally produced meat and eggs are still available, but prices are prohibitively high for most residents.
An analysis by a forum of Israeli nutrition experts estimated the food reserves that remained after the cease-fire ended last month and assessed current needs in the wake of suspended aid deliveries. Their findings suggest that acute malnutrition may have already begun affecting hundreds or thousands of Gaza’s most vulnerable residents at the start of this month. The consequences, they warned, include irreversible brain development damage in children under 5 and reduced quality and quantity of breast milk.
The humanitarian crisis has worsened due to the mass displacement of Gazans under IDF evacuation orders. Since fighting resumed on March 18, the UN estimates that over 400,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Today, the vast majority of Gaza’s population lives in tents or temporary shelters among the ruins. Currently, approximately 69 percent of Gaza’s territory is under evacuation orders or Israeli military control.
“The increasing issuance by Israeli forces of ‘evacuation orders’ – which are, in effect, displacement orders – have resulted in the forcible transfer of Palestinians in Gaza into ever shrinking spaces where they have little or no access to life-saving services, including water, food and shelter,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, said last week.
The UN also reported at least 23 IDF attacks in the Muwasi humanitarian zone, where displaced residents are living in tents.
Access to clean water has also declined dramatically. A recent survey found that 91 percent of families in Gaza lack access to potable water. Two-thirds of the enclave’s water supply systems are not operational due to bombings and fuel shortages that have shut down pumping stations.
Sanitation conditions have similarly deteriorated. Many waste disposal and sewage pumping stations are no longer functioning due to evacuation orders, exacerbating public health risks.
“Families are being forced into impossible choices: rationing drinking water, skipping hygiene practices, and sacrificing safety in the struggle to survive,” the UN said. “For women, the burden is especially acute. Limited access to water and sanitation severely compromises menstrual hygiene, dignity and health, increasing the risk of infections and social stigma.”
Gaza’s civil defense authority reported that many bombing survivors died under rubble due to a lack of equipment or fuel needed to operate heavy machinery for rescue operations. Two global experts in humanitarian crises and mortality, speaking to Haaretz this week, warned of a rapid deterioration in public health in Gaza.
According to Prof. Alex de Waal of Tufts University in the United States and Prof. Michael Spagat of the University of London, Gaza’s population entered the war in October 2023 in relatively good health, with high vaccination rates and a functioning health care system. Unlike in other conflict zones, widespread deaths from malnutrition and disease were not initially observed during the first year of the war, despite food shortages.
However, living conditions have been deteriorating, and the health situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly dire. Beyond hunger, they pointed to exposure to infection in overcrowded tents, unsafe drinking water, collapsed waste systems, a devastated healthcare network, and shortages of medicine and hygiene products.
De Waal warned that, because of the collapse of the health care system, a growing number of children are likely to fall ill with diarrhea that leads to dehydration. He emphasized that the situation could deteriorate rapidly and unpredictably, potentially making it harder to save affected children by the time the severity is recognized.
Dr. Fidaa al-Nadi, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, told the Turkish news agency Anadolu on Tuesday that the hospital is experiencing an acute shortage of infant formula, especially for babies with digestive issues, along with a severe lack of diapers and basic medical supplies.
“These needs are completely unmet and cannot be easily compensated for,” she said. “Moreover, a mother’s malnutrition during pregnancy directly impacts the child’s health after birth.”
Amid the worsening crisis, the UN issued an unusually stark warning in its latest statement, hinting that the situation may amount to genocide. “Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group in Gaza,” it said.
Nir Hasson is a journalist for Haaretz.
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