MSF Reports Critical Malnutrition Crisis in Gaza Due to Israeli Aid Restrictions

Kathmandu. International Emergency Humanitarian Medical Service (MSF) has stated that Israel has imposed a ban on essential aid including food in Gaza, deliberately creating a crisis. It has been reported that this has negatively impacted infants, pregnant and lactating women, creating a complex malnutrition crisis.

MSF has also mentioned in its report the damage caused by a private organization supported by the US and Israel in obstructing the distribution of United Nations aid in Gaza last year.

The International Emergency Humanitarian Medical Service, known by the name MSF, has released a report based on the analysis of the situation from the end of 2024 to the beginning of 2026 in four health facilities in the Gaza Strip.

The analysis shows problems such as high mortality rates and miscarriages in infants born to malnourished mothers. MSF has stated that this situation has been created because Israel continues to blockade the flow of essential goods and attack infrastructure, including medical facilities.

MSF has also issued a statement mentioning that insecurity, displacement, aid restrictions, and limitations on food and medical services have had a devastating impact on maternal and infant health.

MSF has warned that even though there has been a ceasefire since last October after two years of devastating conflict, the situation remains extremely fragile. Meanwhile, MSF has called on Israeli authorities to immediately allow unimpeded entry of aid and supplies into Gaza.

MSF has stated that it collected data from more than 200 mothers and newborns undergoing treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit of hospitals in Khan Younis and Gaza City between June and January.

The analysis found that more than half of the women were affected by malnutrition at some point during their pregnancy, and a quarter of them are still malnourished.

The report found that 90 percent of infants born to malnourished mothers were premature and 84 percent had low birth weight. MSF has stated that the neonatal mortality rate among infants born to mothers affected by malnutrition is twice as high as that of infants born to mothers without malnutrition.

MSF has stated that it conducted an analysis based on data from 513 infants under six months of age admitted to the outpatient therapeutic feeding program in Khan Younis between October 2024 and December 2025.