GAZA CITY: Doctors Without Borders has accused Israel of deliberately restricting food and humanitarian assistance to Gaza, claiming it has led to a “manufactured malnutrition crisis” with especially severe consequences for infants, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
In a detailed report released on Thursday, the medical charity—known by its French acronym MSF—analysed conditions between late 2024 and early 2026 across four health facilities it supports in the Gaza Strip.
It concluded that restrictions on aid, combined with ongoing insecurity and damage to civilian infrastructure, have had devastating effects on maternal and newborn health.
The organisation said it had observed significantly higher rates of premature births and infant mortality among babies born to malnourished mothers, alongside a marked rise in miscarriages.
MSF linked these outcomes to Israel’s blockade on essential goods and repeated strikes affecting hospitals and other civilian facilities, according to AFP.
“Insecurity, displacement, restrictions on aid, and limited access to food and medical care have had devastating consequences for maternal and newborn health,” MSF said in its statement, warning that the situation remains “extremely fragile” despite a ceasefire reportedly in place since October following two years of conflict.
MSF has called on Israeli authorities to allow immediate and unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid and essential supplies into Gaza.
“The malnutrition crisis is entirely manufactured,” said Merce Rocaspana, MSF’s medical emergency adviser, adding that malnutrition had been virtually non-existent in Gaza before the outbreak of war.
The report is based on data collected from more than 200 mothers and newborns treated in neonatal intensive care units in Khan Yunis and Gaza City between June and January.
It found that over half of the pregnant women studied experienced malnutrition at some stage of pregnancy, while a quarter remained malnourished at the time of delivery.
The consequences were severe: around 90 per cent of babies born to malnourished mothers were premature, and 84 per cent had low birth weight.
MSF further reported that neonatal mortality rates were twice as high among infants born to malnourished mothers compared with those whose mothers were not affected.
A separate analysis of 513 infants under six months enrolled in outpatient therapeutic feeding programmes in Khan Yunis between October 2024 and December 2025 revealed that 91 per cent were at risk of poor growth and developmental issues.
By December, 200 infants had left the programme, but fewer than half had recovered, while seven per cent had died. MSF also highlighted a broader deterioration in child health.
Between January 2024 and February 2026, it admitted 4,176 children under the age of 15 for acute malnutrition treatment, with 97 per cent of cases involving children under five.
During the same period, 3,336 pregnant and breastfeeding women were enrolled in treatment programmes for malnutrition.
The organisation further criticised the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed private aid body established to replace much of the United Nations’ aid distribution network in Gaza.
MSF said that by May 2025, the number of food distribution points had fallen from around 400 to just four under GHF, which was later disbanded in November.
MSF described the GHF-run distribution system as “militarised and deadly”. Jose Mas, head of MSF’s emergency unit, said medical teams had treated a surge in injuries linked to violence at aid distribution points, as well as complications arising from severe food deprivation.
The organisation also reported a rise in miscarriages during the period when GHF operated, alongside increasing cases of acute malnutrition across Gaza’s most vulnerable groups.
MSF reiterated its call for urgent humanitarian access, warning that continued restrictions are worsening an already critical public health emergency affecting thousands of civilians, particularly women and children.
