Babies in Gaza face lifelong harmful effects from malnutrition: Doctors Without Borders

Babies in Gaza are facing lifelong health consequences due to severe malnutrition linked to Israel’s blockade and restrictions on aid access, Doctors Without Borders warned, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported Wednesday.

“Children born malnourished have a very high risk of growth and developmental delays,” Karel Hendriks, director of Doctors Without Borders Netherlands, told the outlet.

“We will see the after-effects for many years to come of the fact that so much aid and food has been deliberately withheld recently,” he added.

The findings are based on data collected between late 2024 and early 2026 from four Doctors Without Borders clinics in Gaza, focusing on pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and infants up to 6 months old.

According to the aid group, many pregnant women suffered severe malnutrition during periods of intense Israeli attacks and food shortages, particularly in mid-2025, when humanitarian access was heavily restricted.

“More than half of the pregnant women who came to our clinics suffered from malnutrition at some point during their pregnancy,” Hendriks said.

He added that 90% of babies born to those women were premature, while 84% had low birth weight.

Doctors Without Borders said newborn mortality among babies born to malnourished mothers was twice as high as among those born to healthy mothers.

The group linked the deterioration to Israel’s blockade on aid deliveries and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, saying the situation caused repeated displacement, shortages of food, and limited access to healthcare.

– DESPITE CEASEFIRE, CONDITIONS IN GAZA STILL CRITICAL

Between January 2024 and February 2026, the group said it treated around 4,000 children under the age of 5 for acute malnutrition, along with more than 3,300 pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The aid group warned that conditions remain critical despite a ceasefire announced last October.

“We still had to admit 400 children due to malnutrition in the first quarter of this year,” Hendriks said, adding that one-third suffered from the most severe form of acute malnutrition.

Doctors Without Borders also called on Israel to reopen border crossings and allow the entry of humanitarian workers and supplies into Gaza.

“Since Jan. 1, our international staff have no longer had access to the Palestinian territories, and we have been unable to bring in new supplies,” Hendriks said.

He said humanitarian groups were ready to deliver food, drinking water and other essential aid if access restrictions were lifted.

The Israeli army has killed more than 72,600 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 172,000 in a deadly assault on Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Despite a ceasefire in place since last October, Israel has refused to allow the agreed quantities of humanitarian supplies into the enclave, where about 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.5 million displaced, face severe humanitarian conditions.