A deadly meningitis outbreak is threatening Gaza’s children
Children with meningitis receive treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis amid warnings of an outbreak in displacement tents due to severe overcrowding and poor sanitation, 30 January 2026
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 4 February 2026:
On January 23, 11-year-old Aline Asfour received her third-grade graduation certificate with honors, scoring in the 98th percentile and ranking first in her class. Her family celebrated her academic achievement and excellence. Two days later, Aline began feeling unwell. She started vomiting repeatedly and suffered from severe diarrhea. At first, her family believed she was experiencing a common cold due to the cold weather and living in displacement tents.
That same night, Aline’s temperature rose sharply, and the vomiting continued. By 1:30 a.m., her family called for an ambulance. A few days later, Aline was dead, infected with a deadly case of meningitis.
As of the time of writing, Aline is the only child in the Gaza Strip to have died from bacterial meningitis. According to health officials in Gaza, at least 15 cases of the disease have been recorded so far, with expectations that the outbreak will worsen given the dire medical and living conditions faced by displaced civilians in the Strip.
Bacterial meningitis is often contracted from feces or respiratory droplets, health officials in Gaza say, making living conditions in displacement camps an ideal environment for spreading the illness.