Gaza can’t recover from famine as acute malnutrition soars across the Strip, new report finds
Hashem Abu Mustafa, 2, diagnosed with severe actue malnutrition at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, 23 August 2026
Tareq S. Hajjaj reports in Mondoweiss on 26 August 2026:
On August 23, two-and-a-half-year-old Hashem Abu Mustafa was discharged from Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after being diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. But his discharge was not a recovery. The underlying causes of his condition remain unclear, as he needs several tests, including an MRI and a blood culture, for which the necessary equipment and resources are not available in the Gaza Strip.
Hashem’s mother, Suha Abu Mustafa, 34, says that he is now suffering from quadriparesis as a complication of malnutrition, leaving him unable to move any of his limbs. He also has severe difficulty swallowing. Although he needs specially prepared, mashed food, a single meal can take between two and three hours because of his difficulty swallowing, compounded by the accumulation of health problems. It’s a delay his frail body can barely sustain.
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Acute food insecurity remains widespread across the Gaza Strip despite recent improvements brought about by the October 2025 ceasefire, according to a report published on August 13 by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s highest famine-monitoring body.
Between April 16 and June 30, 2026, more than 1.2 million people — 59% of Gaza’s population — faced Crisis or worse conditions (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 212,000 in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).