Save the Children has confirmed that famine is now a reality in Gaza, marking the first official famine classification in the Middle East. The organization warned that at least 132,000 children under the age of five are at risk of dying from acute malnutrition. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), more than half a million people in Gaza, about half of them children, are experiencing catastrophic hunger at IPC Phase 5, the most severe level. The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with famine projected to spread into Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September as Israel’s military offensive intensifies and displaces hundreds of thousands of people.
The latest data reveals that the number of children under five at risk of death from malnutrition between now and June 2026 has doubled since May. Save the Children’s International CEO, Inger Ashing, stated that Gaza’s children are being “systematically starved by design” and described the crisis as the direct consequence of Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war. She emphasized that while limited aid has trickled in, it remains grossly insufficient, and many of the effects of famine, especially on children, will be irreversible.
On the ground, Save the Children’s health and nutrition teams are overwhelmed, treating hundreds of malnourished children each month. In the first two weeks of August, over 61% of pregnant women and new mothers screened in the organization’s clinics were found to be malnourished—nearly seven times higher than before the siege began in March. Malnourished mothers are more likely to give birth to smaller babies, perpetuating a cycle of malnutrition that threatens future generations. Doctors in Gaza clinics are seeing double the number of patients they can safely handle, while vital aid supplies remain blocked from entering since March, with 45 trucks of medicine, hygiene kits, and shelter materials stranded in warehouses.
Since the start of the war, Save the Children’s two clinics in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah have supported more than 113,000 people, including 42,000 children, through nutrition screening, medical interventions, supplements, and high-calorie therapeutic foods. Despite these efforts, the organization stresses that only an immediate end to the siege, unrestricted aid access, and restoration of electricity, fuel, and water can prevent the famine from worsening. Save the Children is calling on the international community to act urgently, warning that continued inaction will cost countless lives and irreparably damage the future of Gaza’s children.
