Malnutrition Deaths Rise as Israeli Offensive Hits Gaza City

Malnutrition rates have been steadily increasing in Gaza since March 2025.

Conditions in Gaza are worsening for Palestinians trapped amid spiralling hunger as Israel continues to block aid deliveries amid escalating attacks, according to the latest updates from UN agencies on the ground on Tuesday.

“Military activities continue in and around Gaza City, but also in the south, taking a heavy toll on civilians, including deaths, injuries, and further displacement,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric at the daily press briefing in New York. “Our colleagues report that people continue to flee, mainly towards the coast.”

More than 76,000 people have been newly displaced since mid-August, with most occurring in the north, he said, citing the latest reports from UN agencies monitoring population movements. More than 23,000 people were displaced from northern Gaza.

Coastal areas are also crowded with tents, forcing many people to flee from Gaza City in the north towards central areas, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency, OCHA.

Daily reports of malnutrition deaths continue, the UN Spokesperson said. Since the start of the nearly two-year-long war, more than 300 people, including many children, have died of malnutrition in the Strip, according to local authorities.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that the situation “continues to deteriorate,” the UN Spokesperson added, noting that families without able-bodied members to fetch food are facing the highest risks.

As such, the UN agency resumed last week its distribution system of digital vouchers, reaching 22,000 people, including vulnerable groups, following a five-month pause.

“We and our partners are continuing to transport aid and other medical supplies to and from the crossings [into Gaza], but the current situations on the ground have not yet allowed us to resume community-based distribution,” Mr. Dujarric said. “Only a ceasefire will ensure necessary conditions for a massive response to prevent famine from spreading further.”

During the previous ceasefire from January to March, he said, “we reached nearly every single person in the Gaza Strip with lifesaving aid, and we can do this again.”

WFP said obstacles include supply shortages and violent unrest around convoys, making distributions “nearly impossible.”

According to the UN humanitarian agency, the movement of aid teams inside Gaza remains heavily restricted. OCHA also reported that about one in three planned missions were “impeded or outright denied by Israeli authorities” between Friday and Monday, the UN Spokesperson said.

As a result, many missions could not be completed, he added, also noting that strict Israeli inspections continue to significantly delay aid clearance at Ashdod Port.

News reports indicated that the United States announced last week that it would not issue visas to senior Palestinian leaders ahead of high-level General Assembly meetings later this month at UN Headquarters in New York.

That includes a conference on 22 September where Heads of State and Government are expected to endorse a political declaration adopted by leaders attending an international conference in late July, endorsing the two-State solution.

Responding to a reporter’s question, Mr. Dujarric said, “the participation of a senior Palestinian delegation to the conference is essential.”

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), raised alarms at what would have been the start of the school year for more than 600,000 children in Gaza.

“Gaza is in ruins; so is its education system,” he said on Monday. “Instead of going back to school like most children around the world, around 660,000 girls and boys in Gaza will be sifting through the rubble, desperate, hungry, traumatised, and mostly bereaved.”

The longer they stay out of school with their trauma, the higher the risk they become “a lost generation, sowing the seeds for more hatred and violence,” the UNRWA chief warned.

“Ceasefire is the only way forward to reverse the famine and the ‘scholasticide’ hitting the children of Gaza,” he said.