Gaza residents continue to face hunger and limited access to treatment outside the territory, about a year after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Reports published on October 10–11 describe families surviving on one daily meal and patients facing restricted medical evacuations.

Food insecurity affects 1.4 million people

Shaun Hughes of the World Food Programme, the UN food agency, said food insecurity remained extremely serious. Figures from July showed that 1.4 million of Gaza’s roughly 2.1 million residents faced acute food insecurity. About 200,000 were one step below famine.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, gave a different assessment. It told AFP that Gaza’s humanitarian situation was stable.

The IPC, a UN-backed food-security assessment body, declared famine in Gaza in August 2025. Israel rejected that declaration as a lie. The UN lifted the declaration in December, saying supplies entering over two months under the ceasefire had eased conditions.

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Families lack enough food and variety

Niyaha al-Masri, a 35-year-old mother living in a tent in Khan Yunis, spends at least six hours daily queueing at a community kitchen. She told AFP that the food she collects provides the only daily meal for her family of 10.

She returns with four containers of rice, lentils and a little chicken. The family has neither breakfast nor dinner, and she rations their remaining flour. Her children want fruit, but she cannot afford it.

Hughes said limited dietary variety remained a major problem, particularly for children and pregnant or breastfeeding women. A study by the aid group Medecins du Monde found symptoms of anaemia in 93% of pregnant or breastfeeding women studied. Only 17% had a diet varied enough to meet their nutritional needs.

Patients face restricted routes to treatment

A Palestinian news outlet reported that the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing reopened in February 2026, but movement remained very limited. About 2,480 people had left Gaza for treatment over the preceding seven months.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has also reported deaths among patients awaiting medical evacuation. The number currently waiting to leave for treatment remains unclear, with reported totals using different patient categories.

Figures attributed to the ministry differ on hospital capacity: 19 or 25 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals are reported out of service. The remaining hospitals operate only partially.