Famine in Gaza: A Preventable Tragedy

Children are starving in Gaza. Health workers at Save the Children’s primary health care centres are witnessing rising numbers of malnourished children. Many are weak, sick, and visibly wasting away. With the health system largely collapsed and only a few hospitals functioning, children are dying without ever reaching help. According to the Ministry of Health, on 11 August 2025, at least 100 children have died of starvation or related malnutrition. The true number is likely much higher.

This famine is man-made. Children are being starved by design. It will only end when the siege is lifted and humanitarian access is fully restored, alongside an immediate and definitive ceasefire.

We are seeing young lives cut short while lifesaving food, water, and medical supplies wait just miles away at the border.

"Children in Gaza are being starved by design by Israeli authorities. This was a wholly predictable and avoidable tragedy that humanitarian organisations have been warning about for months. We knew this would happen; no one can say they did not."
- Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe

Malnutrition is not just about hunger. It can lead to stunted growth, weakened immune systems, long-term organ damage, and, in severe cases, death. It robs children of their ability to learn, grow, and thrive. The effects are long-lasting and can span generations, locking entire communities in a cycle of poverty and poor health.

Since the imposition of a total siege on 2 March 2025, almost no food, water, fuel, or medicine has been allowed into Gaza. Humanitarian operations have ground to a halt. Aid trucks remain at the border, unable to deliver supplies, while people inside Gaza are forced to survive on animal feed, expired flour, or nothing at all.

A father in northern Gaza described his reality:

"There’s no food. I have no choice but to eat things you would never imagine. My daughter is weak, constantly sick, and in pain from hunger. My wife is going to lose our unborn child. It is desperate here. No one is living a dignified life."

Another mother, whose children received treatment at one of our clinics, said:

"We know what hunger feels like. We have tasted death. Our children are just waiting their turn to die."

These testimonies speak to the scale of desperation facing families. More than 93 percent of children in Gaza - around 930,000 - are now at critical risk of famine. One in five children under two who were screened in April were suffering from moderate or severe acute malnutrition.

This is not a supply issue. It is an access issue. We have the aid, the food, the treatment. What we do not have is permission to deliver it.

"This is a deliberate humanitarian catastrophe. We know how to treat malnutrition in children, but we are being blocked. Children are being starved by design. This is not a crisis of supply; it is a crisis of access."
— Ahmad Alhendawi

The use of starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime under international law. The denial of humanitarian assistance is also prohibited. All available evidence points to the systematic use of starvation in Gaza, causing widespread suffering and preventable deaths.

The Government of Israel has imposed total or partial sieges on Gaza, cut off essential services such as water and electricity, and blocked or severely restricted the entry of food and humanitarian aid. These acts have had a devastating and disproportionate impact on children, who are now dying from hunger, dehydration, and disease.

Save the Children has been working in Gaza for decades. We continue to operate primary healthcare centres, screen and treat malnutrition, and support pregnant women and young children with nutrition and psychosocial care.

Despite immense challenges, we are providing lifesaving aid, safe spaces, healthcare, and advocating for peace:

1. We have been providing essential services and support since the start of this crisis. Alongside local partners, we’re distributing vital supplies to families across shelters and households - drinking water, food, hygiene products, mattresses, blankets, learning materials, toys, and games. We’re providing communities with clean water through water trucking, installing latrines in shelters and conducting health and hygiene promotion sessions. We are supporting families with winter supplies, including covers, blankets and mattresses. Via partners we are delivering food kits to families. The food kits include date, paste, tuna, jam, sugar, plates, cups and spoons, thyme, tea, cheese, halva, tahini, canned meat, chickpeas, beans, wet wipes, and olive oil. Alongside partners we are deploying staff to keep shelters clean, critical to helping keep disease outbreaks at bay. We are also installing latrines in shelters.
2. We’re providing cash to families so they can buy food and any other essentials.
3. We conducted a market assessment in Gaza and gathered food insecurity data which informed the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) - the global scale to classify food and nutrition crises.
4. We’re running Child Friendly Spaces, ensuring children have a safe space to play, receive psychosocial support and escape from the traumatic experiences they’re enduring.
5. Our Health programming is providing primary healthcare and maternal and newborn care and we’re screening and treating children for acute malnutrition. We are providing much needed mental health and psychosocial support to children and their families.
6. We are running Mother and Baby Areas with support for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Community Management of Acute Malnutrition.
7. We and our partners are running Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) for children aged 3-12. We are providing support to children who were unable to enrol in formal schooling, having reached school age during the war. This involves learning activities designed to prepare these young learners.
8. Apart from Gaza, we're also helping in the West Bank, where we've supported families facing increased settler violence by providing emergency cash and running child protection activities. In Egypt, we've ensured access to essential supplies, supported medical evacuees from Gaza, and trained first responders. In Lebanon, we've assisted displaced individuals by providing clean water, food, hygiene products, and mental health support.
9. We continue to advocate to governments for actions that will lead to an immediate ceasefire and allow unrestricted aid into Gaza.

This is not just a crisis of starvation. It is a failure of political will and a breakdown of humanity. The death of even one child from hunger, when food is available, is a tragedy. The reported deaths of over 100 children, with countless more at risk, is a shame on the global conscience.

"These are not just numbers but young lives, full of potential. Elsewhere, these children could have had an education, a home, and a future. In Gaza, war and a stranglehold on aid have taken everything from them. This is a moral scar on our shared humanity and shames the world."
- Ahmad Alhendawi

The Government of Israel must end the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

The siege on Gaza must be lifted, and unrestricted aid - including food, medical supplies, fuel, and water - must be allowed in immediately.

Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including objects essential to survival, must stop.

The international community must act decisively, using all political, diplomatic, and economic tools to uphold international law and protect civilians.

All states must suspend arms transfers and review agreements that facilitate the continued suffering in Gaza.

Every moment that passes without action costs more lives. We must act now to stop further loss of life and protect the future of Gaza’s children.

Your donation can help us deliver urgent, life-saving aid - food, clean water, medical care, and support for children and families who are enduring unimaginable suffering. We have supplies ready, teams on the ground, and the expertise to treat malnutrition. What we need now is the access - and your support.

Please donate today