Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has published a damning analysis accusing Israel of having deliberately engineered a malnutrition crisis in the Gaza Strip through sustained restrictions on food, aid, and essential goods. The report, released on Thursday and based on data gathered at four health facilities MSF operates or supports in Gaza between late 2024 and early 2026, documents severe and measurable harm to pregnant women, newborns, and young children. "The malnutrition crisis is entirely manufactured," said Merce Rocaspana, MSF's medical referent for emergencies. "Before the war, malnutrition in Gaza was almost non-existent."

The data paint a stark picture of the crisis's impact on maternal and newborn health. More than half of the women receiving care at hospitals in Khan Yunis and Gaza City — a sample of over 200 mothers — were affected by malnutrition at some point during their pregnancies between June 2025 and January 2026. A quarter remained malnourished at the time of delivery. The consequences were severe: 90 percent of babies born to malnourished mothers were premature, and 84 percent had a low birth weight. Neonatal mortality was twice as high among infants born to malnourished mothers compared to those born to healthy mothers. The World Health Organization notes that low-birth-weight infants are 20 times more likely to die than heavier babies. MSF also recorded a sharp rise in miscarriages during the period studied. Between January 2024 — when MSF identified its first cases of child malnutrition, just three months into Israel's offensive — and February 2026, the organisation admitted approximately 4,000 children under five for acute malnutrition treatment, along with more than 3,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The report also scrutinises the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organisation backed by the United States and Israel that was established to largely replace UN-led aid distribution in Gaza. MSF described GHF's food distribution points as "militarised and deadly," noting that by late May 2025, the number of distribution points in the territory had collapsed from around 400 to just four. During the period GHF was operational, MSF facilities recorded a sharp increase in patients seeking care for injuries sustained at food distribution points, as well as a rise in malnutrition cases. GHF disbanded last November. Under the terms of a ceasefire that came into effect last October, 600 aid trucks were meant to enter Gaza daily; in practice, only around 150 are being allowed in each day.

MSF warns that despite the ceasefire, conditions remain deeply precarious. Karel Hendriks, director of MSF Netherlands, noted that in the first quarter of 2026 alone, MSF admitted 400 children for malnutrition — a third of them suffering from the most severe acute form. International MSF staff have been barred from entering Palestinian territories since 1 January, and no new supplies have been brought in since then. Around 1,200 Palestinian staff are continuing operations under increasingly severe restrictions. MSF is calling on Israel to immediately allow unhindered access for humanitarian workers and supplies, arguing that the longer the blockade continues, the longer its effects will be felt. "Children born malnourished face a greatly elevated risk of growth and developmental delays," Hendriks said. "We will be seeing the consequences of the deliberate withholding of food and aid for many years to come."