FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO reiterate call for immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition

22/08/2025- ROME/GENEVA/NEW YORK – More than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths, according to a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released today. Famine conditions are projected to spread from Gaza Governorate to Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis Governorates in the coming weeks.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have collectively and consistently highlighted the extreme urgency for an immediate and full-scale humanitarian response given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition and plummeting levels of food consumption, with hundreds of thousands of people going days without anything to eat.

The agencies reinforced that famine must be stopped at all costs. An immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict is critical to allow unimpeded, large-scale humanitarian response that can save lives. The agencies are also gravely concerned about the threat of an intensified military offensive in Gaza City and any escalation in the conflict, as it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist. Many people – especially sick and malnourished children, older people and people with disabilities – may be unable to evacuate.

By the end of September, more than 640 000 people will face Catastrophic levels of food insecurity – classified as IPC Phase 5 – across the Gaza Strip. An additional 1.14 million people in the territory will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and a further 396 000 people in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) conditions. Conditions in North Gaza are estimated to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza City. However, limited data prevented an IPC classification, highlighting the urgent need for access to assess and assist. Rafah was not analyzed given indications that it is largely depopulated.

Classifying famine means that the most extreme category is triggered when three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths – have been breached. The latest analysis now affirms on the basis of reasonable evidence that these criteria have been met.

Almost two years of conflict, repeated displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access, compounded by repeated interruptions and impediments to access to food, water, medical aid, support to agriculture, livestock and fisheries and the collapse of health, sanitation, and market systems, have pushed people into starvation.

Access to food in Gaza remains severely constrained. In July, the number of households reporting very severe hunger doubled across the territory compared to May and more than tripled in Gaza City. More than one in three people (39 percent) indicated they were going days at a time without eating, and adults regularly skip meals to feed their children.

Malnutrition among children in Gaza is accelerating at a catastrophic pace. In July alone, more than 12 000 children were identified as acutely malnourished – the highest monthly figure ever recorded and a six-fold increase since the start of the year. Nearly one in four of these children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form with both short and long-term impacts.

Since the last IPC Analysis in May, the number of children expected to be at severe risk of death from malnutrition by the end of June 2026 has tripled from 14 100 to 43 400. Similarly, for pregnant and breastfeeding women, the number of estimated cases has tripled from 17 000 in May to 55 000 women expected to be suffering from perilous levels of malnutrition by mid-2026. The impact is visible: one in five babies are born prematurely or underweight.

The new assessment reports the most severe deterioration since the IPC began analyzing acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, and it marks the first time a famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.

Since July, food and aid supplies entering Gaza increased slightly but remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent and inaccessible compared to the need.

Meanwhile, approximately 98 percent of cropland in the territory is damaged or inaccessible – decimating the agriculture sector and local food production – and nine of ten people have been serially displaced from homes. Cash is critically scarce, aid operations remain severely disrupted, with most UN trucks looted amid growing desperation. Food prices are extremely high and there is not enough fuel and water to cook and medicines and medical supplies.

Gaza’s health system has severely deteriorated, access to safe drinking water and sanitation services has been drastically reduced, while multi-drug resistant infections are surging and levels of morbidity – including diarrhoea, fever, acute respiratory and skin infections – are alarmingly high among children.

To enable lifesaving humanitarian operations, the U.N. agencies emphasized the importance of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to stop the killing, allow for the safe release of hostages and permit unimpeded access for a mass influx of assistance to reach people across Gaza. They stressed the urgent need for greater amounts of food aid, along with dramatically improved delivery, distribution and accessibility, as well as shelter, fuel, cooking gas and food production inputs. They emphasized that it is critical to support the rehabilitation of the health system, maintain and revive essential health services, including primary health care, and ensure sustained delivery of health supplies into and across Gaza. The restoration of commercial flows at scale, market systems, essential services, and local food production is also vital if the worst outcomes of the famine are to be avoided.

“People in Gaza have exhausted every possible means of survival. Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives every day, and the destruction of cropland, livestock, greenhouses, fishery and food production systems has made the situation even more dire,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “Our priority must now be safe and sustained access for large-scale food assistance. Access to food is not a privilege – it is a basic human right.”

“Famine warnings have been clear for months,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director. “What’s urgently needed now is a surge of aid, safer conditions, and proven distribution systems to reach those most in need – wherever they are. Full humanitarian access and a ceasefire now are critical to save lives.”

“Famine is now a grim reality for children in Gaza Governorate, and a looming threat in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “As we have repeatedly warned, the signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat; babies dying from hunger and preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed their children. There is no time to lose. Without an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access, famine will spread, and more children will die. Children on the brink of starvation need the special therapeutic feeding that UNICEF provides.”

“A ceasefire is an absolute and moral imperative now,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhoea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry and exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines to save lives and begin the process of reversing malnutrition. Hospitals must be protected so that they can continue treating patients. Aid blockages must end, and peace must be restored, so that healing can begin.”

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Notes for editors:

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative 21-partner initiative – made up of UN agencies and international NGOs – for improving food security and nutrition analysis and decision-making. By using the IPC classification and analytical approach, governments, UN Agencies, NGOs, civil society and other relevant actors, work together to determine the severity and magnitude of acute and chronic food insecurity, and acute malnutrition situations in a country, according to internationally-recognized scientific standards. Find out more here.[AB1]

Related links

· IPC Special Snapshot on the Gaza 

· Famine Review Committee (FRC) Report

· IPC Famine Fact Sheet

For more information, please contact:

FAO: Peter Mayer, tel: (+39) 06 570 53304. Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

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21 July 2025 - WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah in Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse.

Following intensified hostilities in Deir al Balah after the latest evacuation order issued by Israeli military, the WHO staff residence was attacked three times today. Staff and their families, including children, were exposed to grave danger and traumatized after airstrikes caused a fire and significant damage. Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention. Thirty-two people, including women and children, were collected and evacuated to the WHO office in a high-risk mission, once access became possible. The office itself is close to the evacuation zone and active conflict.

WHO demands continuous protection of its staff and the immediate release of the remaining detained staff member.

The latest evacuation order has affected several WHO premises. As the United Nations’s (UN) lead health agency, WHO’s operational presence in Gaza is now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people. 

Most of WHO’s staff housing is now inaccessible. Last night, due to intensified hostilities, 43 staff and their families were already relocated from several staff residences to the WHO office, under darkness and at significant risk.

WHO’s main warehouse located in Deir al Balah is within the evacuation zone, and was damaged yesterday after an attack caused explosions and fire inside - part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities. It was later looted by desperate crowds.

With the main warehouse nonfunctional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WHO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners, already critically short on medicines, fuel, and equipment. WHO urgently calls on Member States to help ensure a sustained and regular flow of medical supplies into Gaza.

The geographical coordinates of all WHO premises, including offices, warehouses, and staff housing, are shared with the relevant parties. These facilities are the backbone of WHO’s operations in Gaza and must always be protected, regardless of evacuation or displacement orders. Any threat to these premises is a threat to the entire humanitarian health response in Gaza.  

In line with the UN’s decision, WHO will remain in Deir al Balah, deliver and expand its operations.

With 88% of Gaza now under evacuation orders or within Israeli-militarized zones, there is no safe place to go.

WHO is appalled by the dangerous conditions under which humanitarians and health workers are forced to operate. As the security situation and access continue to deteriorate, red lines are repeatedly crossed, and humanitarian operations pushed into an ever-shrinking space to respond. 

WHO calls for the immediate release of the WHO staff member detained today, and the protection of all our staff and its premises. We reiterate our call for the active protection of civilians, health care and its premises and for rapid and unimpeded flow of aid, including food, fuel and health supplies, at scale into and across Gaza. WHO also calls for the unconditional release of hostages. 

Life in Gaza is being relentlessly squeezed, and the chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system slips further out of reach each day. A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue. 

30 July 2025, Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva - The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip, according to the alert published this week by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).   People are foregoing food for days. Others are dying as their undernourished, weakened bodies succumb to disease or organ failure. The health system, normally a source of sustenance and relief, is also starved of essential medical supplies, fuel, and other necessities to function fully. Humanitarian and health workers are also weak from hunger.  

Dying of starvation is slow and painful. A starving child, among the most vulnerable, might cry constantly from pain until becoming too weak to even do that. If not urgently treated, a child with acute malnutrition will die. 

To stop the dying and reverse this man-made tragedy will take months, if not years.Recovery for a malnourished person takes specialised medical attention, correct therapeutic feeding and supplementation. In some severe cases, consequences are lifelong, from stunted growth and impaired brain development to other lasting health complications.   

While the IPC partners, including WHO, will conduct further assessments, the gravity of the situation is clear.  

Food, medicines and other aid must be allowed in immediately, at scale, through all possible routes. United Nations partners have such supplies ready and waiting at the border. WHO calls on Israel to urgently facilitate the United Nations and other humanitarian actors by ensuring safe, rapid and unhindered access to delivery and distribution of aid. As ever, our call is to end the suffering. Our colleague who remains in detention must be released. Hostages must be released. Ultimately and always, our call is for a ceasefire. Peace is the first step to recovery. 

The IPC is a partnership of 21 organizations, including WHO, who work together to determine the severity and extent of acute and chronic food insecurity and acute malnutrition situations within countries, according to internationally recognised standards. 

Links 

IPC statement  

WHO Q&A on malnutrition 

WHO statement on malnutrition  

13 August 2025 – In coordination with the European Union (EU), the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) calculate how health care costs impact financial hardship.

Making sure people receive the care they need without facing financial hardship is key to ensuring health for all.

During a 4-day technical workshop held at Birzeit University, participants from the MoH and PCBS learned about the concepts and methodologies used to measure financial hardship.

They used existing survey data from Palestine to estimate the number of households that spend a large share of their budget on health, how many are pushed into poverty because of this spending and how expenditure on items like medicine and consultations contributes to financial hardship.

The work is part of a global consultation led by WHO and the World Bank to produce new estimates on universal health coverage. Palestine, which has monitored financial hardship since 2004, is the first place to convene such a technical workshop.

Lack of financial protection reduces access to health care, undermines health status, deepens poverty and exacerbates health and socioeconomic inequalities, all of which are compounded by occupation, war and the consequent collapse of economic systems. When people are forced to choose between using health services and meeting other basic needs, some may forego health care.

Using recently gathered data, the MoH and PCBS are preparing a detailed analysis that will help identify which households are at most risk. This information will help inform policies on health insurance and the essential services to prioritize in public facilities.

The initiative is supported as part of the EU-WHO-MoH project on health financing 2024–2026.

Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva, 27 July 2025 - Malnutrition is on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July.

Of 74 malnutrition-related deaths in 2025, 63 occurred in July - including 24 children under five, a child over five, and 38 adults. Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting.

The crisis remains entirely preventable. Deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid has cost many lives.

Nearly one in five children under five in Gaza City is now acutely malnourished, as reported by Nutrition Cluster partners. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM), which measures the percentage of children aged 6–59 months suffering from acute malnutrition, has tripled since June, making it the worst-hit area in the Gaza Strip. In Khan Younis and the Middle Area, rates have doubled in less than one month. These figures are likely an underestimation due to the severe access and security constraints preventing many families from reaching health facilities.

So far in July, over 5000 children under five have already been admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition in just the first two weeks, 18% of them with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), the most life-threatening form. This continues a significant rising trend since May, with 6500 children admitted for treatment in June, which is the highest number recorded since October 2023.

An additional 73 children with SAM and medical complications were hospitalized in July, compared to 39 in June, bringing total inpatient admissions in 2025 to 263. This surge in cases is overwhelming the only four specialized malnutrition treatment centres in the Gaza Strip, pushing an already fragile health system closer to collapse. All four centres are working beyond capacity, running low on fuel, with their supplies expected to run out by mid-next month. Health workers are exhausted, and the breakdown of water and sanitation systems is accelerating the spread of disease, driving a dangerous cycle of illness and death.

The crisis is taking a severe toll on pregnant and breastfeeding women. Recent Nutrition Cluster screening data shows that over 40% are severely malnourished. The situation is most critical in the Middle Area, where rates have tripled compared to June, and in Gaza City and Khan Younis, where they have doubled.

It is not only hunger that is killing people, but also the desperate search for food. Families are being forced to risk their lives for a handful of food, often under dangerous and chaotic conditions. Since 27 May, more than 1060 people have been killed and 7200 injured while trying to access food.

WHO calls for urgent, sustained efforts to flood the Gaza Strip with diverse, nutritious food, and to expedite the delivery of therapeutic supplies for children and vulnerable groups, as well as essential medicines and supplies. This flow must remain consistent and unhindered to support recovery and prevent further deterioration. WHO reiterates its call for the protection of civilians and health. WHO also calls for the release of our detained colleague, the release of hostages, and for an immediate ceasefire.

5 June 2025, Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva – WHO warns that the Gaza Strip’s health system is collapsing, with Nasser Medical Complex, the most important referral hospital left in Gaza, and Al-Amal Hospital at risk of becoming non-functional. There are already no hospitals functioning in the north of Gaza.

Nasser and Amal are the last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Younis, where currently most of the population is living. Without them, people will lose access to critical health services.

While these hospitals have not received orders to evacuate patients or staff, they lie within or just outside the evacuation zone announced on 2 June. Israeli authorities have informed the Ministry of Health that access routes leading to both hospitals will be obstructed. As a result, safe access for new patients and staff will be difficult, if not impossible. If the situation further deteriorates, both hospitals are at high risk of becoming non-functional, due to movement restrictions, insecurity, and the inability of WHO and partners to resupply or transfer patients.

Nasser and Al Amal hospitals are operating above their capacity, while people with life-threatening injuries continue to arrive to seek urgent care amid a dire shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies. The hospitals going out of service would have dire consequences for patients in need of surgical care, intensive care, blood bank and transfusion services, cancer care, and dialysis.

Losing the two hospitals would cut 490 beds, reducing the Gaza Strip’s overall hospital bed availability to less than 1400 hospital beds (40% less hospital beds available in the Gaza Strip than before the start of the conflict), for the entire population of 2 million people.

The relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza has been going on for too long. It must end immediately. For over 20 months, health workers, WHO, and partners have managed to keep health services partly running despite extreme conditions. But repeated attacks, escalating hostilities, denial of aid, and restricted access have systematically dismantled the health system.

WHO calls for urgent protection of Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital to ensure they remain accessible, functional and safe from attacks and hostilities. Patients seeking refuge and care to save their lives must not risk losing them trying to reach hospitals. Hospitals must never be militarized or targeted.

WHO calls for the delivery of essential medicines and medical supplies into Gaza to be immediately expedited safely and facilitated through all possible routes.

WHO calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

Notes to editors

• Only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are currently partially functional. Of these, just five, including Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital, are major referral facilities, accounting for 75% of all the Gaza Strip’s hospital beds.
• Nasser Medical Complex is operating at 180% over bed capacity and Al Amal Hospital is at 100%.
• Currently, one national and four international Emergency Medical Teams are deployed at Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals as part of efforts to provide specialized care and strengthen hospital capacity.
• Acute shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies are severely disrupting health services in all hospitals, while about 50 WHO trucks of supplies await at Al-Arish and in the West Bank.

22 May 2025 Jerusalem, Cairo, Geneva – Israel’s intensified military operations continue to threaten an already weakened health system, amidst worsening mass population displacement and acute shortages of food, water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter.

Four major hospitals in Gaza (Kamal Adwan Hospital, Indonesia Hospital, Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics, and European Gaza Hospital) have had to suspend medical services in the past week due to their proximity to hostilities or evacuation zones, and attacks. WHO has recorded 28 attacks on health care in Gaza during this period and 697 attacks since October 2023.

Only 19 of Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals remain operational, including one hospital providing basic care for the remaining patients still inside the hospital, and are struggling under severe supply shortages, lack of health workers, persistent insecurity, and a surge of casualties, all while staff work in impossible conditions. Of the 19 hospitals, 12 provide a variety of health services, while the rest are only able to provide basic emergency care. At least 94% of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed.

The increased hostilities and new evacuation orders issued across northern and southern Gaza in the past two days threaten to push even more health facilities out of service. This includes 1 hospital, 11 primary care centres, and 13 medical points within the evacuation zones, and an additional 5 hospitals, 1 field hospital, 9 primary care centres, and 23 medical points within 1000 metres of those zones.

North Gaza has been stripped of nearly all health care. Al-Awda Hospital is only minimally functional, serving as a trauma stabilization point. It faces an imminent risk of closure due to ongoing insecurity and restricted access. The hospital’s third floor was reportedly attacked on Wednesday, injuring a staff member. Hostilities in the area also damaged the water tank and pipeline. Today, the hospital was attacked again. The third and fourth floors were reportedly hit, injuring two health workers. Patient triage tents, including one provided by WHO, caught fire, which also burned all medical supplies in the warehouse and destroyed vehicles in the basement. A WHO mission attempting to reach the hospital today was impeded.

The Indonesian Hospital is out of service due to continued military presence since 18 May, making it inaccessible. Yesterday, a WHO mission to the hospital was forced to abort due to the security situation after waiting nearly four hours for clearance to proceed. WHO team had planned to deliver food and water to patients, assess their conditions, and identify critical equipment for transfer. WHO tried to reach the hospital again today, but the mission was impeded.

Kamal Adwan Hospital, which had the only centre to treat patients with severe acute malnutrition in North Gaza, went out of service on 20 May after intense hostilities in its vicinity, forcing patients to evacuate or be discharged prematurely.

In southern Gaza, Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Amal, and Al-Aqsa hospitals are overwhelmed by a surge of injured people, worsened by a new wave of displacement to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. The European Gaza Hospital remains out of service following an attack on 13 May, cutting off vital services including neurosurgery, cardiac care, and cancer treatment – all unavailable elsewhere in Gaza.

Currently, across the Gaza Strip, only 2000 hospital beds remain available, for a population of over 2 million people, grossly insufficient to meet the current needs. Of these, at least 40 beds are at risk of being lost as they are in hospitals within newly declared evacuation zones, while an additional 850 could be lost if conditions deteriorate at facilities near these zones.

Continued hostilities and military presence inhibit patients from accessing care, obstruct staff from providing care, and prevent WHO and partners from resupplying hospitals.

With each hospital forced out of service, patients lose access to health care, and WHO and partners’ efforts, to sustain Gaza’s health system are undone. The destruction is systematic. Hospitals are rehabilitated and resupplied, only to be exposed to hostilities or attacked again. This destructive cycle must end.

Amid constant fear and insecurity, health workers, including those from national and international emergency medical teams, continue delivering urgent care in Gaza. WHO salutes their courage and commitment.

WHO calls for the active protection of health care. Hospitals must never be militarized or targeted.

WHO calls for aid at scale to be allowed into Gaza through all possible routes, and for unimpeded humanitarian access to reach people wherever they are. Echoing the United Nations’ Relief Chief, WHO reiterates that the UN and its partners have a clear, principled and effective plan to deliver aid with safeguards against diversion, a system that has worked and must be enabled to continue.

WHO calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

12 May 2025, Cairo/Geneva/Jerusalem – The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade.

The entire 2.1 million population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time.

The latest food security analysis was released today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership, of which WHO is a member.

“We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Today’s report shows that without immediate access to food and essential supplies, the situation will continue to deteriorate, causing more deaths and descent into famine.”

Famine has not yet been declared, but people are starving now. Three quarters of Gaza’s population are at “Emergency” or “Catastrophic” food deprivation, the worst two levels of IPC's five level scale of food insecurity and nutritional deprivation.

Since the aid blockade began on 2 March 2025, 57 children have reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. This number is likely an underestimate and is likely to increase. If the situation persists, nearly 71 000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next eleven months, according to the IPC report.

People in Gaza are trapped in a dangerous cycle where malnutrition and disease fuel each other, turning everyday illness into a potential death sentence, particularly for children. Malnutrition weakens the bodies, making it harder to heal from injuries and fight off common communicable diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia, and measles. In turn, these infections increase the body’s requirement for nutrition, while reducing nutrient intake and absorption, resulting in worsening malnutrition. With health care out of reach, vaccine coverage plummeting, access to clean water and sanitation severely limited, and increased child protection concerns, the risk of severe illness and death grows, especially for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, who urgently need treatment to survive.

Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are also at high risk of malnutrition, with nearly 17 000 expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition over the next eleven months, if the dire situation does not change. Malnourished mothers struggle to produce enough nutritious milk, putting their babies at risk, while the delivery of counselling services for mothers is heavily compromised. For infants under six months, breastmilk is their best protection against hunger and disease – especially where clean water is scarce, as it is in Gaza.

The long-term impact and damage from malnutrition can last a lifetime in the form of stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and poor health. Without enough nutritious food, clean water, and access to health care, an entire generation will be permanently affected.

The plan recently announced by Israeli authorities to deliver food and other essential items across Gaza via proposed distribution sites is grossly inadequate to meet the immediate needs of over two million people. WHO echoes the UN’s call for the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality to be upheld and respected and for unimpeded humanitarian access to be granted to provide aid based on people’s needs, wherever they may be. A well-established and proven humanitarian coordination system, led by the UN and its partners, is already in place and must be allowed to function fully to ensure that aid is delivered in a principled, timely, and equitable manner.

The aid blockade and shrinking humanitarian access continue to undermine WHO’s ability to support 16 outpatient and three inpatient malnutrition treatment centres with life-saving supplies, and to sustain the broader health system. The remaining supplies in WHO’s stocks inside Gaza are only enough to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition – a fraction of the urgent need – while essential medicines and supplies to treat diseases and trauma injuries are already running out and cannot be replenished due to the blockade.

People are dying while WHO and partners’ life-saving medical supplies sit just outside Gaza – ready for deployment, with safeguards in place to ensure the aid reaches those who need it most in line with humanitarian principles. WHO calls for the protection of health care and for an immediate end to the aid blockade, which is starving people, obstructing their right to health, and robbing them of dignity and hope. WHO calls for the release of all hostages, and for a ceasefire, which leads to lasting peace.

6 May 2025, Ramallah - Two new state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation outpatient centers in Ramallah and Qabatiya governorates of the West Bank were inaugurated today, with the presence of the Palestinian Minister of Health, Head of the Representative Office of the Republic of Korea, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Country Director, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative, and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Director. These are the first outpatient rehabilitation facilities in the West Bank to be fully integrated into the public health system and operated by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The establishment of the rehabilitation facilities has been implemented jointly by the WHO and UNOPS, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health (MoH), with funding provided by KOICA.

Until now, access to rehabilitation services across the West Bank has been severely limited, with less than one rehabilitation bed per 100,000 people, and most services delivered only by nongovernmental organizations. Meanwhile, the number of individuals requiring rehabilitation continues to grow. Ongoing hostilities and violence have resulted in increasing numbers of patients suffering from traumatic injuries, while chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular conditions have led to a rise in physical and neurological impairments.

The new centres were established to meet this growing need for specialized neurological rehabilitation services, with a focus on adults suffering from stroke, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. In total, the centres will serve an estimated 700,000 residents across the two governorates and neighboring communities.

“Today marks the launch of a vital rehabilitation project that will leave a lasting impact on countless Palestinians,” said Dr Majed Abu Ramadan Minister of Health. “The opening of two new centers comes at a time of urgent need for physiotherapy and rehabilitation services. Through robust partnerships and a shared commitment, we can address the pressing challenges facing the Palestinian health sector and ensure that all people receive the care, dignity, and support they deserve.”

Twenty-eight professionals have been recruited by MoH to provide services at the centers. Each centre is staffed by multidisciplinary teams, including specialists in physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and mental health, trained by WHO local and international consultants to deliver evidence-based rehabilitation interventions. WHO also supported the development of operational guidelines for the centres and equipped them with new medical devices.

“The launch of the first public rehabilitation outpatient centers in Palestine marks a significant and meaningful step forward in improving health care services and reflects the 20-year partnership between Korea and Palestine, grounded in our shared commitment to human dignity. At a time of great need, the Korean government, through KOICA, has been able to support the provision of essential rehabilitation services through the close collaboration of the Ministry of Health, WHO, and UNOPS. This project stands as a testament to what we can achieve through effective collaboration and long-standing partnership. I look forward to continuing this important cooperation to serve those who need it most,” said Mr Koh, Youngkul, Head of the Representative Office of the Republic of Korea.

“This centre is a turning point for rehabilitation services in the West Bank,” said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory. “It brings essential, life-changing care into the public health system and sets a precedent for how rehabilitation should be integrated across all levels of care. We are proud to support the Ministry of Health in collaboration with KOICA to make quality care accessible to those who have long gone without.”

“UNOPS is proud to have supported the Ministry of Health and KOICA in turning this initiative into a functioning reality,” said Ms. Karuna Herrmann, Director of the UNOPS Jerusalem Office. “Our role focused on ensuring high-quality infrastructure, and coordinated delivery — the building blocks that make sustainable public rehabilitation services possible.”

Each centre is expected to deliver 50-60 therapeutic rehabilitation sessions per day, or 250–300 sessions weekly, providing individualized programmes that focus on restoring function, promoting independence, and improving patients’ overall quality of life. By bridging the gap in outpatient neurorehabilitation services in the northern and middle West Bank, these centres will contribute not only to clinical recovery, but also to broader goals of community reintegration and inclusive health development.

19 February 2025, The emergency polio outbreak response in the Gaza Strip is continuing, with a mass vaccination campaign scheduled from 22 to 26 February 2025. The novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) will be administered to over 591,000 children under 10 years of age to protect them from polio. This campaign follows the recent detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in Gaza, signaling ongoing circulation in the environment, putting children at risk.  

Pockets of individuals with low or no immunity provide the virus an opportunity to continue spreading and potentially cause disease. The current environment in Gaza, including overcrowding in shelters and severely damaged water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure, which facilitates fecal-oral transmission, create ideal conditions for further spread of poliovirus. Extensive population movement consequent to the current ceasefire is likely to exacerbate the spread of poliovirus infection. 

Two previous vaccination rounds in the Gaza Strip were successfully conducted in September and October 2024, reaching over 95% of the target. As poliovirus is found to remain in the environment, additional vaccination efforts are needed to reach every child and strengthen population immunity. The presence of the virus still poses a risk to children with low or no immunity, in Gaza and throughout the region.   

In 2024, health workers faced significant challenges accessing certain areas of central, north and south Gaza, which required special coordination to enter during the conflict. In inaccessible areas such as Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun where humanitarian pauses for the vaccination campaign were not assured, approximately 7,000 children missed vaccination during the second round. The recent ceasefire means health workers have considerably better access now.   

No additional polio cases have been reported since a ten-month-old child was paralyzed in August 2024, but the new environmental samples from Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, collected in December 2024 and January 2025, confirm poliovirus transmission. The strain detected is genetically linked to the poliovirus detected in the Gaza Strip in July 2024. 

The upcoming vaccination campaign aims to reach all children under 10 years of age, including those previously missed, to close immunity gaps and end the outbreak. The use of the oral polio vaccine will help end this outbreak by preventing the spread of the virus. An additional polio vaccination round is planned to be implemented in April.

The campaign will be led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and implemented with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and other partners. 

Polio vaccines are safe and there is no maximum number of times a child should be vaccinated. Each dose gives additional protection which is needed during an active polio outbreak.   

WHO, UNICEF, and partners welcome the recent ceasefire and urge for a lasting ceasefire that leads to long-term peace.