Famine confirmed in Gaza
According to the latest analysis published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), famine has now been officially confirmed in Gaza. All three famine thresholds have now been breached, including widespread food shortages, starvation-related deaths, and acute malnutrition among children.
Over half a million people are trapped in famine and the entire child population under five – over 320,000 children – is at risk of acute malnutrition.
UNICEF is working to scale up the entry of essential nutrition supplies — including Ready-to Use Therapeutic Food, Ready-to-Use Complementary Food, Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements, High-Energy Biscuits and Ready-to Use Infant-Formula to prevent and treat acute malnutrition.
UNICEF has never stopped delivering to children in the Gaza Strip. We have provided essential services and lifesaving assistance to families throughout the past months, but we can do a lot more if we are given full, unimpeded access to our supplies and families in need.
How you can support
If you are seeking ways to support and wish to donate by bank transfer, please use the details below:
| Account Name: | UNICEF Ireland |
| Bank Name: | AIB |
| Bank Address: | 7/12 Dame Street, Dublin 2 |
| Account Number: | 24070037 |
| IBAN: | IE37AIBK93338424070037 |
| BIC: | AIBKIE2D |
Donations by cheque can also be sent by post to:
UNICEF Ireland, 33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1, D01 R283
You are also welcome to get in touch and a member of our team will be in contact directly.
Philanthropy & Major Gifts
Should you or your family office wish to provide support, please contact Donna Marie O’Donovan, Head of Philanthropy at donna.marie@unicef.ie.
Corporate Partnerships
For businesses, please contact Owen Buckley, Head of Corporate Partnerships at owen@unicef.ie.
Thank you for your support.
Children in urgent need
The number of children suffering from acute malnutrition is rising sharply
Malnutrition among children has reached catastrophic levels in the Gaza Strip with famine now officially confirmed in Gaza Governorate.
The number of children diagnosed with acute malnutrition marked a six-fold increase between February and July 2025. Dietary diversity among infants and children has significantly declined due to widespread food shortages.
The entire child population under five – more than 320,00 children – are at risk of acute malnutrition, with thousands already suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of undernutrition.
The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated: if left untreated, the consequences of acute malnutrition may be lethal.
These children need urgent lifesaving treatment now.
A child suffering from malnutrition lies on a bed in the Patient Society Hospital in Gaza City on 29 July 2025.
UNICEF's humanitarian response
United Nations agencies, including UNICEF, have been authorised to bring in limited quantities of select supplies.
Since the full aid blockade was lifted, hundreds of UNICEF trucks and truckloads of UNICEF supplies have been collected from the Karem Shalom and Zikim crossings for distribution, including:
- Ready-to-use infant formula
- Ready-to-use complementary food
- High-energy biscuits
- Vaccines
- Diapers
- Hygiene kits
- Dignity kits
- Disability kits
However, these remain vastly insufficient to address the urgent needs of 2.1 million people. Just to cover basic food assistance needs, more than 62,000 metric tons of staple food are required per month.
In August 2025, a mother receives maternal and newborn nutrition counselling at a UNICEF-supported health facility.
UNICEF’s work in Gaza goes far beyond the delivery of aid parcels:
- We repair water wells and sewage systems, provide fuel to desalination plants, and deliver safe water via trucks since water networks have been largely destroyed.
- Our nutrition programmes include not only therapeutic food but also malnutrition screening, and breastfeeding counselling for mothers.
- We provide humanitarian cash transfers to help tackle hunger even when aid access is limited, giving vulnerable families the purchasing power and dignity to buy food and essentials in a highly volatile market.
- We have delivered obstetric and trauma kits, installed incubators and ventilators in neonatal intensive care units, and supported maternal and newborn health services through training and supervision.
- We lead on the planning and delivery of major routine immunisation campaigns to protect children in Gaza against deadly diseases like polio and diphtheria.
- Despite the devastation, we have also established temporary learning centres, offering children access to play, learning, and psychosocial support.
The scale of need is staggering, but no matter the challenges, UNICEF is on the ground in Gaza doing all we can and we never give up.
It is the support of our donors that enables us to continue this vital work under the most difficult circumstances.
Why UNICEF?
UNICEF has been supporting children and families on the ground in the State of Palestine for decades.
The sheer scale of our infrastructure and long-term development work for children means that we are uniquely positioned to respond rapidly and effectively to these crises.
With a vast global procurement and distribution network, including the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world, UNICEF is equipped to respond rapidly with lifesaving supplies and support.
Sustainable interventions are important because crises are not one-time shocks; their impact can last for years. UNICEF’s humanitarian action takes a cross-sectoral approach that includes health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, education, psychosocial support.
Non-political and impartial, we are never neutral when it comes to defending children’s rights and safeguarding their lives and futures.
And we never give up.
UNICEF teams have remained on the ground throughout the conflict delivering critical supports for children in Gaza. See UNICEF’s Mid-Year Situation Report for January–June 2025.
UNICEF continues to call for a ceasefire, the unfettered access of humanitarian aid across Gaza, the protection of children, and the release of all hostages so that they can return home to their loved ones.
