by Jules Gomes, Middle East Forum
Study Finds Child Nutrition in Gaza Surpasses That of Neighboring Arab States
A report from the United Nations evaluating the nutrition of Gaza’s children and women of childbearing age has countered claims made by global aid agencies, medical journals, church leaders, and the United Nations’ own affiliates of widespread starvation and a famine engineered by Israel.
The research, led by UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, found that “malnutrition is not only significantly below the critical values—it is exceptionally low in regional comparison,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced.
In fact, the study published on July 22, 2026, shows that the nutritional status of children and women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in Gaza surpasses that of neighboring Arab states and even some European countries.
The proportion of children in Gaza under 5 years of age with acute malnutrition is between 0.2 and 0.8 percent, the study concludes. Gaza’s pre-war rate was 0.8 percent, a relatively low level comparable to developed countries and below neighboring Arab countries. By comparison, the proportion of children under 5 suffering from acute malnutrition is 2.9 percent in Egypt, 2.0 percent in Jordan, over 12 percent in Syria, and 4.0 percent in Bulgaria.
The study measured the children’s weight, height, and mid-upper-arm circumference, using the data to calculate the weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), the standard indicator used by the World Health Organization and other health care agencies to assess levels of acute malnutrition.