In Palestine, 1.4 million Gaza residents face acute food shortages — France 24

In the Gaza Strip in Palestine, widespread hunger persists despite the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. According to France 24, a representative of the UN World Food Programme described the food security situation in the enclave as extremely serious.

According to the latest available data for July, 1.4 million of Gaza's approximately 2.1 million residents were experiencing acute food shortages. Around 200,000 people were one step away from hunger, according to the WFP representative's assessment.

Queues for food

Khan Younis resident Niyaha al-Masri spends at least six hours every day in line at a community kitchen to get food for her family. She lives in a tent with her husband and eight children aged from three to 14.

The woman's husband suffered injuries to both legs in an airstrike and cannot search for food with others. The family of ten has only one meal a day — rice, lentils and a small amount of chicken. Flour supplies have to be rationed.

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Lack of nutritious food

The WFP stressed that some food is reaching Gaza, but many people's diets lack sufficient nutritional diversity. This is particularly dangerous for children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women, as they need protein-rich foods, fresh vegetables and fruit.

In August 2025, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared famine in Gaza, which Israel rejected as a false claim. In December, the UN revoked this designation, reporting that sufficient aid had entered the enclave during two months of truce to ease the crisis. At the same time, the Israeli body COGAT told AFP that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was stable.

A Médecins du Monde report stated that 93% of pregnant or breastfeeding women had symptoms of anaemia, closely linked to malnutrition. Only 17% had a sufficiently diverse diet to meet nutritional needs. Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis also reported an increase in syndromes and conditions linked to malnutrition and weakened immune systems.