The U.S. State Department has responded to a new UNICEF report on malnutrition in Gaza by stating it "completely shatters" claims that Israel deliberately starved civilians in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The UNICEF-led National Nutrition Cluster report, released last month, assessed 1,335 children under age 5 across 83% of Gaza to evaluate malnutrition risks. Using Weight-for-Height Z-score (WHZ) figures, malnutrition rates ranged from 0.2% in Khan Younis and Rafah to 0.8% in Gaza City.

According to a post on X by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), acute malnutrition rates in Gaza and neighboring countries range from 1.3% in Gaza, Lebanon, and Turkey to 17.7% in Sudan.

Andrew Fox, a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society who has studied the Gaza conflict, told Fox News Digital that "the new data shows that the allegations of famine in Gaza were pure hysteria." He noted that while some small pockets of hunger occurred, the issue was primarily one of distribution.

Aron Troen, director of the Nutrition and Brain Health Laboratory at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, called the UNICEF findings "very, very good news," highlighting that current measures in Gaza are better than in some other Arab regions despite recent famine claims.

Kurtis Cooper, Chief of Global Media at UNICEF, explained that the recent nutrition survey reflects conditions in mid-2026, more than nine months after the IPC confirmed famine in August 2025, following a ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid. Cooper added that during the IPC analysis period, programs to detect and treat malnutrition were largely operational, though blanket supplementary feeding had mostly ceased due to access and supply challenges.

The IPC is expected to release a full report on Gaza's conditions soon.

Background context includes Hamas' invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 kidnappings, followed by Israel's military response in Gaza. This sequence led to accusations of genocide and deliberate starvation tactics against Gazans.

Sources

Notable Quotes

  • "The new data shows that the allegations of famine in Gaza were pure hysteria." — Andrew Fox, Henry Jackson Society
  • "The recent nutrition survey measures conditions in mid-2026, more than nine months after the IPC confirmed famine in August 2025 and after a ceasefire and substantial scale-up in humanitarian assistance." — Kurtis Cooper, UNICEF
  • "Very few confirmed nutrition-related deaths have been reported during treatment." — UNICEF report
  • "Prior to releasing the report, they have assessed that the Gaza Strip would be in Phase 2 [of malnutrition], between July and December 2026." — UNICEF
  • "The IPC is expected to release a full report on conditions in Gaza." — IPC