Gaza malnutrition crisis reaches catastrophic levels as the threat of famine looms

Palestine Red Crescent medical teams are battling severe child malnutrition while feeling the impact of hunger amid aid shortages with nearly half a million people facing starvation.

Updated 12 August 2025

After months without aid, malnutrition in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels and continues to worsen. Gaza is now on the brink of famine, with the entire population grappling with severe food insecurity. Nearly half a million people, approximately 470,000 - 22% of Gaza’s population - are facing the imminent threat of starvation.

Our colleagues in the Palestine Red Crescent Society, who are on the ground in Gaza, have shared that emergency rooms are flooded with people of all ages, arriving in states of extreme exhaustion, weakness, and physical collapse.

In July 2025, Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, described the dire situation people are being confronted with.

"The people in Gaza are facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” she said.

“More people are being admitted to hospitals with malnutrition especially among children, pregnant women and the elderly. The situation is only getting worse. People not only struggle to have access to food but also to clean water and medicine.”

Medical teams are battling severe child malnutrition amid aid shortages

Despite the overwhelming number of cases, medical teams from the Palestine Red Crescent Society are doing everything they can to treat malnourished children with the limited resources available, even while they fight the effects of hunger themselves. In field hospitals like the one in Rafah, staff are working around the clock to provide emergency nutrition support, essential food supplements, and basic medical care.

Dr Mohamed El-Deeb, a Palestine Red Crescent Society doctor at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City, spoke about the desperate condition of many children.

“Children are suffering from severe malnutrition, and they are in need of food supplements, and they need the essential foods for them. They get dizzy, they get tired, they get drowsy, they get malnourished. We have received a lot of cases such as this who are suffering from severe malnutrition and even sometimes collapse in their sleep because of their malnutrition,” he said.

After more than 22 months of hostilities, critical infrastructure across Gaza has been extensively damaged. This infrastructure is essential for electricity and water services, which provide displaced communities with power, safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation, and medical care.

Dr El-Deeb explained: “There is a severe deficiency of all the necessary equipment, such as flour, sugar and the essential proteins and carbohydrate for every single individual."

The food shortages are also having an impact on the Palestine Red Crescent Society medical teams who are carrying out living saving work. Mey El Sayegh. communications manager IFRC MENA explained that Palestine Red Crescent Society colleagues, who receive one meal a day, are choosing to give it to their children rather than eating themselves.

"What we are hearing from our colleagues at the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza is deeply distressing,” she said.

“I don’t know how our colleagues continue, they are supposed to be the first responders and are providing food to people whilst they themselves are hungry. Yet they are doing their best to support people in need. Our teams are providing glimmers of hope amid utter horror.”

• Help support medical care in Gaza - donate now 

The impact of malnutrition will affect children for generations

The effects of aid and food shortages will not just be felt by people today but are likely to impact generations, especially children, causing a health crisis in Gaza that could last many years. Naziha El Moussaoui, Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihoods advisor, British Red Cross explained that lasting health damage caused by malnutrition may be irreversible for the thousands of children being affected.

“This is not just a crisis for today - it’s a crisis for generations to come. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, leaving people, especially the most vulnerable, unable to fight off disease and infection,” he said.

“The long-term effects will echo far into the future. With chronic malnutrition comes longer term health impacts which can be irreversible in children. This includes impacts on brain development, stunted growth, and organ functioning. We need a sustained flood of support - not just to save lives today, but to safeguard the future of entire communities." 

Unhindered humanitarian aid is desperately needed as malnutrition rapidly increases

In the last few weeks there has been an increase in aid as well as a humanitarian pause to allow for the safer distribution of essential items to the people that need it – but this isn’t enough. The trickle of aid needs to be a flood, and needs to be delivered regularly to meet the needs of the people, who are hungry and running out of options. 

Rory Moylan, Head of Region for the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe at the British Red Cross, has emphasised the urgent need for aid in Gaza, where essential aid has become increasingly scarce. He stressed that the rising malnutrition crisis is a direct result of ongoing disruptions to humanitarian assistance, which is placing even more pressure on an already crumbling health system.

“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens with every passing hour. Supplies have dried up, prices of basic goods are surging, and items like meat and dairy have nearly vanished. Malnutrition is rising, clean water is scarce, and the already decimated healthcare services are overwhelmed. Families are left to survive in makeshift shelters, with no promise of relief.”

“Gaza needs a sustained and unimpeded flow of aid, civilians must be spared from fighting, and humanitarian and health workers must be protected. Day in day out, the Palestine Red Crescent Society continues to serve those most in need, responding with courage and commitment - saving lives, offering hope, and providing critical support. But time is running out.”

How you can help

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic but you can help by donating to the Gaza Crisis Appeal. This appeal helps support the life-saving work of the Palestine Red Crescent Society like that of Dr El-Deeb at the Al Quds Hospital and wider work in the region, now and in the future.

• Act now - donate to the Gaza Crisis appeal