神马午夜福利网

THE GAZA STRIP SITUATION UPDATE

The nutrition status of children in Gaza remained critical throughout 2025. A brief ceasefire in January 2025 led to temporary improvements in humanitarian access; however, these gains were rapidly reversed when a full blockade imposed in March halted the entry of food, fuel, and essential nutritional and medical supplies for more than two months. Although limited quantities of commodities were allowed to enter between May and July, volumes remained far below urgent needs. By August and September, the assistance permitted into Gaza was insufficient to offset the cumulative impact of prolonged shortages. Following the October ceasefire, modest improvements in access were observed, but these remain fragile and inadequate relative to the scale and severity of needs.

According to successive IPC Acute Malnutrition analyses, Gaza Governorate experienced progression from Serious acute malnutrition (IPC AMN Phase 3) in late 2024 to Critical (Phase 4) in early 2025 and then to Extremely Critical (Phase 5) and reaching famine thresholds between June and September 2025. Although conditions have improved following the ceasefire, Gaza City remains in Critical (Phase 4) through April 2026. Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis followed similar patterns, deteriorating from Serious (Phase 3) to Famine-level severity in mid-2025 before improving post-ceasefire to Serious (Phase 3), where they are expected to remain until mid-April 20261. Recurrent mass displacement during the year further disrupted household food access, continuity of nutrition and health services, and caregivers’ ability to sustain appropriate feeding and care practices.

Improved food availability and affordability in the markets following the ceasefire2 led to modest gains in child dietary diversity and a reduction in severe food poverty. By December 2025, 40% of children consumed at least 3–4 food groups, compared to just 8% in September 20253. However, diets remain critically inadequate. No children aged 6–23 months met the minimum dietary diversity requirement of consuming five or more of the eight recommended food groups. Consumption of fruits and vegetables remained very low (below 10–12%), while vitamin A–rich food intake stayed under 7% across most months, leaving only around one in ten children consuming both food groups. While these gains suggest reduced extreme deprivation, consumption patterns remain insufficient to meet children’s nutritional requirements. The expansion of prevention programmes delivering nutrient-rich supplements has partially offset poor home diets, supported by improved humanitarian access within Gaza.

Child morbidity levels remain high and continue to compound the risk of acute malnutrition. In December 2025, 80% of caregivers reported that their children had been ill in the previous two weeks, a slight improvement from over 90% in September4, but still indicative of widespread disease burden. Acute respiratory infections remained the most commonly reported illness, affecting 42% of children, while 34% of children were affected by acute watery diarrhoea in Dec 2025, reflecting persistently poor living, WASH, and overcrowding conditions. These trends are particularly concerning in a context where health service provision remains severely constrained, with only 36.3% of health service delivery units functional as of December 20255. The sustained high burden of infection directly undermines nutritional recovery by reducing appetite, increasing nutrient losses, and raising metabolic requirements among young children.