Gaza hospital reports first child deaths from hunger as aid crisis worsens
Previously healthy children are now dying of malnutrition at Gaza’s largest pediatric emergency hospital, marking a devastating escalation in the territory’s humanitarian crisis amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Doctors at the Patients’ Friends Hospital in northern Gaza confirmed the first hunger-related child deaths over the weekend. Medical staff described the situation as the worst they’ve witnessed since the conflict began, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“There are no words in the face of the disaster we are in. Kids are dying before the world,” said Dr. Rana Soboh, a nutritionist at the hospital. “There is no uglier and more horrible phase than this.”
According to Dr. Soboh, the hospital receives up to 300 children a day, most suffering from severe hunger. Despite treatment, many are no longer responding and remain hospitalized longer than before. Staff say that, until now, many patients recovered even amid shortages—but conditions have drastically deteriorated.
In the past three weeks alone, at least 48 people—including 20 children—have died from causes linked to malnutrition, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is operated by Hamas. This marks a sharp increase from the 10 child hunger deaths reported in the first five months of 2025.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that 21 children under five have died due to malnutrition-related causes so far this year.
“Humans are well developed to live with caloric deficits, but only so far,” said Dr. John Kahler, co-founder of MedGlobal and a pediatrician who has volunteered in Gaza. “It appears that we have crossed the line where a segment of the population has reached their limits. This is the beginning of a population death spiral.”
The World Food Programme estimates nearly 100,000 women and children in Gaza urgently need treatment for malnutrition. Health workers say essential treatments and medicines have nearly run out.
The aid crisis has deepened since January, when Israel banned the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from delivering aid, accusing the body of allowing Hamas infiltration—claims it has not publicly substantiated. Israel also accuses Hamas of looting humanitarian supplies, which the group denies.
In a UN Security Council address on Tuesday, Secretary-General António Guterres described the situation as a “horror show” with “a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.”
Calls for immediate international intervention continue as aid groups warn of an imminent famine, with more than 100 humanitarian organizations sounding the alarm.
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