World Health Organization Reports 57 Children Dead From Malnutrition In Gaza
A charity organization distributes food and drinking water to Palestinians in the Jabalia area in ... More the north of the Gaza on May 12, 2025. Since March 2, Israel has completely closed its border crossings to humanitarian aid and continued its attacks, while a food crisis persists in Gaza. (Photo credit: Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In May 2025, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that since the aid blockade began on March 2, 2025, 57 children have died from the effects of malnutrition. WHO further warned that if the situation persists, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next 11 months. During a briefing for journalists, WHO's representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said that Israel's complete aid embargo has left only enough WHO supplies to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition – 'a fraction of the urgent need. (…) People are trapped in this cycle where a lack of diversified food, malnutrition and disease fuel each other.' Only a few days earlier, a new analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) suggested that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faced starvation, while the entire 2.1 million population of the Strip were subjected to prolonged food shortages. The situation in Gaza is considered to be one of the world's worst hunger crises.
During the meeting with journalists, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn briefed on his recent visit to Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza. There, at a WHO-supported nutrition centre, more than 300 children are screened every day. The hospital reported more than 11% of cases with global acute malnutrition. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn described the effects of malnutrition and how a five-year-old child he saw at the hospital looked as if he were half his age. Dr. Peeperkorn explained that malnutrition can last a lifetime with impacts including stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and health. He added that 'Without enough nutritious food, clean water, access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected.' Similar concerns in relation to the situation of children have been raised by Save the Children, a non-governmental organization, which suggested that more than 93% of the children in Gaza – about 930,000 children – are at critical risk of famine.
The WHO warned that people in Gaza are trapped in a dangerous cycle where malnutrition and disease fuel each other, turning everyday illness into a potential death sentence, particularly for children. As they explained, 'Malnutrition weakens the bodies, making it harder to heal from injuries and fight off common communicable diseases like diarrhea, pneumonia, and measles. In turn, these infections increase the body's requirement for nutrition, while reducing nutrient intake and absorption, resulting in worsening malnutrition. With health care out of reach, vaccine coverage plummeting, access to clean water and sanitation severely limited, and increased child protection concerns, the risk of severe illness and death grows, especially for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, who urgently need treatment to survive.' The WHO also warned about the serious risks faced by pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn further briefed on the attacks on healthcare, including the recent incident when the burn unit of Nasser Medical Complex in the southern town of Khan Younis was hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing two and injuring 12. Eighteen hospital beds in the surgical department, including eight in the intensive care unit, were lost as a result. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn stressed that the agency has been raising with Israeli authorities the need to get supplies into the Gaza Strip. Currently, 31 WHO aid trucks are at a standstill in Al-Arish in Egypt, a few dozen kilometers away from the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and more supplies are positioned in the West Bank, ready to move when allowed.
The WHO reiterated calls for the protection of health facilities, an immediate end to the aid blockade, the release of all hostages held by Palestinian armed groups and for a ceasefire which leads to lasting peace. The death of the 57 children was preventable. The starvation people of Gaza are subjected to is preventable. Steps to prevent further deaths and suffering are urgently needed.
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