Gaza hunger persists a year after ceasefire

Widespread hunger and malnutrition persist in Gaza a year after a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was meant to allow more food into the territory.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a United Nations-backed body, declared famine in Gaza in August 2025. The UN lifted that declaration by December, saying the ceasefire had allowed enough supplies in over two months to ease conditions.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was stable. Shaun Hughes of the UN World Food Programme said the food security situation was still extremely serious.

Hughes said the most recent figures, from July, showed 1.4 million of Gaza's roughly 2.1 million people were acutely food insecure, including 200,000 people who were one step below famine.

He said limited dietary variety remained a major risk, especially for children and pregnant or breastfeeding women who need protein, vegetables, fruit and other sources of micronutrients.

In Khan Yunis, 35-year-old Niyaha al-Masri said she spends six hours or more each day queueing at a community kitchen to get the only meal of the day for her family of 10. She said one of her sons had suffered from malnutrition during the 2025 famine and was improving gradually.

At Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, malnutrition unit head Israa al-Najjar said she had observed an increase in syndromes and conditions linked to malnutrition that affect the immune system.

Medecins du Monde said in a study published on Thursday that 93 percent of pregnant or breastfeeding women it assessed had symptoms of anaemia, which is closely linked to malnutrition. The group said only 17 percent had a sufficiently varied diet to meet their nutritional needs.