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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 21, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Prapti Ajmera, [email protected] 202-867-5231
Humanitarian Aid Group MedGlobal Releases Major New Report Detailing Malnutrition Crisis in Gaza
New data indicates Gaza has reached the famine threshold.
MedGlobal, one of the leading humanitarian aid organizations providing direct medical services and nutrition care in Gaza, has released a major new report, Starved By Siege, which details unprecedented levels of malnutrition.
MedGlobal’s data assessment, conducted in late July across four governorates, shows that an estimated 16.8% of children under five in Gaza are experiencing acute malnutrition – a staggering 2,000% increase compared to pre-conflict levels. This data provides evidence that Gaza has reached the famine threshold. More malnutrition-related deaths occurred in July than in the previous six months combined, signaling a dangerous and deadly acceleration.
This catastrophe is not an inevitable side effect of conflict – it is a deliberate, man-made crisis, born from the intentional and near total Israeli blockade since March of this year, coupled with the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure vital for survival. The aid group warns that all 320,000 children under five years old are now at risk of starving. Without urgent intervention, Gaza\’s malnutrition crisis will be followed by mass death.
“It appears that we have crossed the line where a segment of the population has reached their limits,”said MedGlobal co-founder and board member Dr. John Kahler. “This is the beginning of a population death spiral.”
To accompany the report, MedGlobal has also released a 9-minute mini-documentary offering a glimpse into the daily efforts of MedGlobal’s teams on the ground in Gaza—providing critical care, supporting hospitals, and standing alongside families as they try to save and heal their children. The video is available for broadcast use and must be credited to MedGlobal.
The report’s Key Findings include:
- The global acute malnutrition (GAM) prevalence has reached 16.8% in Gaza, surpassing the 15% threshold for famine, as identified by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
- The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition stands at 6.8% in Gaza, a staggering 914% rise since Israel’s blockade began in March. Children at this phase are ten times more likely to die compared to healthy children.
- Children in Northern Gaza have been hit hardest with North Gaza seeing an acute malnutrition prevalence of 25.6% and Gaza City experiencing more than a 500% increase in acute malnutrition since the start of the blockade.
- Women are at serious risk, including those pregnant or breastfeeding. One in five pregnant or lactating women is acutely malnourished – a figure that soars to 39% among adolescent girls (15-19), whose developing bodies face irreversible harm.
This assessment reflects what MedGlobal staff are seeing firsthand at clinics and health points across Gaza. In July, MedGlobal saw more than a tripling of acutely malnourished children at its sites with accelerating rates toward the end of the month, compared to February before the blockade of nearly all food and essential supplies into Gaza. More alarming still is a tenfold increase in admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition who, owing to the severity of their health status, are ten times more likely to die. In one 72-hour period in July, five children died due to complications related to malnutrition.
“I looked at her feeding him the RUTF (Ready-to Use Therapeutic Food) sachet. And I realized…this is the front line. Not the rubble. Not the noise. This: a mother trying to keep her child alive with one packet of lifesaving food.” stated Dr. Salwa Al-Tibi, MedGlobal’s country representative in Gaza.
While people starve inside Gaza, humanitarian aid has piled up in warehouses in the region as organizations wait for Israeli approval to bring it in. MedGlobal has medicine, medical supplies, and enough nutrition supplies to treat over 10,000 children, all waiting to enter.
“Children have become like skeletons. No one can comprehend what\’s happening. We are living in a nightmare that won\’t end,” stated Angham al Dahdouh, a MedGlobal staff member who works in nutrition distribution.
MedGlobal stands in unwavering solidarity with Gaza’s healthcare workers and patients and reaffirms its mission to facilitate the uninterrupted delivery of essential aid to crisis-affected populations. The organization calls on parties to the conflict and the international community to secure an immediate ceasefire, end the Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid, and allow U.N. agencies and NGOs to scale up humanitarian aid across all of Gaza.
MedGlobal is a humanitarian nonprofit organization that provides emergency response and health programs to build resilience among vulnerable communities around the world. The organization’s health programs support victims of crisis and conflict, refugees, internally displaced persons, and marginalized communities in disaster-affected and low-resource settings.
