The United Nations has raised alarm over a deepening child malnutrition crisis in the Gaza Strip, reporting that nearly 95,000 children have been identified as suffering from acute malnutrition so far in 2025.
Speaking at a press briefing in New York on Monday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains “extremely dire,” citing data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He warned that severe winter weather is undermining the limited progress made in delivering humanitarian assistance.
According to Dujarric, UN agencies and partner organizations working in the nutrition sector continue to identify large numbers of children in urgent need of life-saving support. In December alone, more than 76,000 children were screened for health conditions, with nearly 4,900 cases of acute malnutrition detected. Among them, over 820 were identified as suffering from severe acute malnutrition. These figures have brought the total number of acute malnutrition cases recorded in 2025 to approximately 95,000.
The UN has also provided emergency shelter assistance, distributing tents, tarpaulins, and blankets to around 28,000 families. However, Dujarric cautioned that ongoing storms and rainfall have left about 1.1 million people in need of urgent shelter support, as many makeshift shelters have been damaged or destroyed. He emphasized that tents are only a temporary solution and called for additional supplies, including toolkits, cement, heavy machinery for debris removal, and sustained funding to move from emergency response toward early recovery.
Highlighting the disproportionate impact on children, Dujarric said that since the implementation of the ceasefire and through the end of last year, UN partners distributed winter clothing to more than 310,000 children and over 112,000 pairs of shoes. To create safer environments for children, 150 child-friendly spaces have also been established across Gaza.
In the education sector, UN education partners have opened 18 additional temporary learning centers, providing access to education for 35,000 more students. The total number of temporary learning centers now stands at 440, serving approximately 268,000 children.
Responding to questions about ongoing destruction in Gaza, Dujarric said the UN is calling for an immediate halt to further damage and urged all parties to move toward the next phase, allowing reconstruction efforts to begin.
A ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on October 10 under a 20-point plan announced by US President Donald Trump, ending nearly two years of Israeli military operations. Since October 2023, more than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza—most of them women and children—while over 171,000 others have been injured, according to reports.
