PBB: 9,300 Toddlers In Gaza Infected With Severe Acute Malnutrition

Greetings, the 7-month-old boy died in early July 2025 after experiencing acute malnutrition due to the absence of food for the removal of Gaza from the entry of global humanitarian aid by Israel. (X UNRWA)

JAKARTA - UNICEF reported that nearly 9,300 children under the age of 5 (toddlers) in Gaza were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition in October 2025.

The high level of malnutrition continues to endanger the lives and well-being of children in the Gaza Strip, exacerbated by the arrival of winter weather that accelerates the spread of disease and increases the risk of death among the most vulnerable children, the UN agency said in a statement on its website, Saturday local time, quoted by Andolu.

The agency regrets that large amounts of winter supplies are still hampered on the Gaza border and calls for the delivery of safe, fast, and unrestricted humanitarian aid to the region.

"When winter weather arrives, thousands of refugee families remain in temporary shelters without warm clothes, blankets, or protection from the weather, while heavy rains have swept away garbage and waste through floods and into residential areas," the agency added.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said that "despite progress, thousands of children under the age of five are still acutely malnourished in Gaza, while many again have no proper shelter, sanitation, and protection for winter," the statement said.

Russell also called for the opening of all crossings to the Gaza Strip, with simplified and accelerated permit procedures as well as clear priorities for the entry of humanitarian supplies through all possible supply routes, including through Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank.

The warning was delivered considering that although the ceasefire was agreed upon, and took effect in October, Gaza was still facing increasing humanitarian pressure.

The state media office said on Wednesday that a recent winter storm damaged about 22,000 tents protecting displaced families and causing more than 288,000 households without protection from cold and rain.

Authorities in Gaza estimate the region will require about 300,000 tents and prefabricated housing units to meet the most basic housing needs for Palestinians, after Israel destroyed civilian infrastructure during two years of war.

Since October 2023, Israeli soldiers have killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured more than 170,900 others in the war that lasted more than two years and destroyed most of the enclave.