Over 65,000 Children in Gaza Face Acute Malnutrition Amid Israeli Blockade: Authorities
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Gaza’s Government Media Office has accused Israel of exacerbating Palestinian children’s suffering through its ongoing blockade, which has led to widespread acute malnutrition affecting more than 65,000 hospitalised children out of 1.1 million facing daily hunger.
Israel is “using starvation and thirst as systematic weapons of war against civilians, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”, it said in a statement on Monday.
It added that “the continuous closure of border crossings has caused a catastrophic deterioration in health conditions, especially among children and infants”.
The office placed full responsibility on Israel for the worsening humanitarian disaster and for “endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, women and elderly people due to the lack of food, medicine and clean water”.
A 4-year-old child with special needs, Yahya Zakaria Abu Halima, died of hunger in Gaza due to the Israeli siege and severe food shortages. His death raises the number of children who have died from malnutrition and starvation to 53 since the beginning of the war.
For nearly two… pic.twitter.com/94Xm3eyt04
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 28, 2025
Children in Gaza face death from cold, disease, and malnutrition due to Israel’s ongoing genocide and blockade.
Since March 2, Israel has maintained the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, leading to an unprecedented deterioration of humanitarian conditions, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
Israel also resumed its genocide in Gaza on March 18, killed over 2,200 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,700—mostly children and women, according the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of field hospitals at the Health Ministry confirmed this month that 32 children died from winter cold, while even more perished from malnutrition and lack of food. Preservatives in canned foods, he said, spread disease among children, sometimes leading to death.
Israel had violated a ceasefire deal with the resistance, blocking humanitarian aid from Gaza.
Israel also blocks polio vaccines, despite 622 children under 10 suffering from the disease. Al-Hams warned this could trigger outbreaks in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon. He demanded open borders to allow vaccines, food, and milk for Palestinians in desperate need.
Overcrowding among displaced families spreads epidemics like diarrhea and hepatitis. Nearly 300,000 people from Rafah now shelter in Khan Younis, while northern Gaza residents flee to Gaza City. Dirty water and poor nutrition make containing hepatitis impossible, Al-Hams said.
Israeli forces have completely destroyed over 60,000 water supply lines and six wastewater treatment plants, severely crippling Gaza’s water and sanitation systems.
The crisis has deepened due to severe fuel shortages, leaving municipalities unable to operate remaining equipment. During its invasion of Khan Younis, Israeli forces deliberately targeted and destroyed water pumps, sewage trucks, and the city’s entire water infrastructure. Municipal authorities now struggle to address the growing public health disaster without equipment, fuel, or functioning infrastructure, leaving hundreds of thousands without clean water or sanitation.
