The Gaza Health Ministry announced that 466 Palestinians have died from malnutrition and starvation since the start of 2024, with children accounting for 157 of those deaths.

The figures were released on World Food Day, when the ministry warned that the ongoing conflict continues to endanger children, older people and those with pre‑existing health conditions.

A Health Information Unit report projects that 67 percent of Gaza’s population will experience crisis‑level food insecurity or worse through December 2026.

Famine was officially declared in Gaza Governorate in August 2025, and by the end of that year 1.6 million people – roughly 77 percent of the population – remained in crisis‑level food insecurity or worse.

Older people accounted for 189 of the reported hunger‑related deaths, representing 40.5 percent of the total fatalities.

The ministry said 11 percent of the elderly went a full day without a meal, 48 percent reduced their portions to feed family members, and 68 percent cut or stopped medication because supplies had run out.

Among children under five, 158,001 cases of acute malnutrition were recorded between 2024 and August 2026, including 28,716 severe cases that threatened lives.

The ministry reported that 12.2 percent of children under five were stunted and that an estimated 74,200 children will need treatment for acute malnutrition through April 2027.

Anaemia among pregnant women rose from 41 percent before the war to 67 percent in 2025, easing to 61 percent in 2026, while nearly 4,000 pregnancy losses were recorded in the first half of 2026 – more than three times the figure for the latter half of 2025.

The ministry appealed to the international community and the United Nations to ensure safe, sustained and unrestricted entry of food, medicines and therapeutic supplements into Gaza, with priority given to children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and older people.

It also called for support to restore local food production, arguing that access to adequate nutrition is a fundamental right even during armed conflict.