WHO estimates 100K Gaza children at acute malnutrition risk
Shafaq News – Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday that more than 100,000 children in the Gaza Strip could face acute malnutrition by April 2026.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited field health team estimates indicating that about 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women may also be affected over the same period.
Calling for “faster, sustained” access, he urged a steady flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including fuel and essential medical supplies needed to keep services running.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed hunger monitoring system, assessed that aid deliveries increased after a ceasefire announced on 10 October 2025, but that assistance has largely covered only “basic survival needs.”
It also assessed that core services—healthcare, water treatment, and sanitation—remain insufficient, with many people still living in temporary shelters during winter conditions.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that starvation-related deaths reached 460 as of October 5, including 154 children. Officials indicated that 182 of those deaths—among them 39 children—occurred after the IPC declared famine conditions in the enclave on August 22.
