A four-year-old girl died of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in one of the latest hunger-related deaths in the the besieged Palestinian territory.
Razan Abu Zaher's death was confirmed by a medical source at central Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital who spoke to Palestinian news agency WAFA. The source added that the crisis is worsening, with increasing numbers of children of all ages being treated for hunger and malnutrition amid Israel's siege and assault on the enclave.
Abu Zaher's death comes as the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Sunday that Israel is deliberately starving one million children in Gaza.
Medical sources cited by The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, said Gaza's hospitals are treating hundreds of children suffering from malnutrition. The sources said that 17,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition, with patients experiencing stress and memory loss due to severe hunger.
Gaza's hospitals - many decimated by Israeli attacks on infrastructure and personnel - are struggling to treat patients, with limited resources and not enough beds.
UNRWA has said that malnutrition among children under five doubled between June 2023 and March 2025 due to Israel's blockade on all aid to Gaza at the beginning of March.
The UN agency's health centres and medical points have conducted around 74,000 malnutrition tests on children between March and June, identifying approximately 5,000 cases of global acute malnutrition and more than 800 cases of severe acute malnutrition.