DUBAI: Israeli restrictions on food and humanitarian aid have led to alarming levels of malnutrition in Gaza, with devastating consequences for pregnant women, newborns and infants, according to a new analysis by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
The medical charity said its data shows a sharp deterioration in maternal and child health during periods of intense hostilities and siege, particularly in mid-2025.
According to Jack Latour, MSF’s Gaza nursing activity manager, who has worked on famines in the region and recently left Gaza, told Arab News that what stood out about the crisis in the strip is just how avoidable it was.
“At night time in the guest house, you can see the lights of where Rafa is, and right at Rafa is where all the trucks and the aid are,” Latour told Arab News.
“At the same time, every single day I was going to clinics, and I was admitting new cases of severe malnutrition. I was admitting mothers who came in and who were weighing 35 kilos and who were six months pregnant, which is absolutely unbearable.”
