UN reports brutal living conditions for Palestinian families, nine months after ceasefire

Over nine since the ceasefire declared between Israel and Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas, food security and child malnutrition persist in the blockaded Palestinian coastal enclave, despite fragile gains due to an increase in humanitarian aid and commercial traffic, three United Nations agencies said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), children’s fund UNICEF, and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) highlighted that improvements in food security and nutrition indicators show how quickly conditions can improve when humanitarian response and commercial activity are scaled-up.

But families in Gaza are still struggling to meet basic needs and improvements could be reversed quickly without sustained humanitarian aid, private sector reactivation, funding, and investment in recovery, the three agencies warned.

Families are still living with damaged homes, unsafe water, and few ways to earn an income and remain trapped in a shrinking area as the Israeli-imposed “yellow line” keeps shifting westward, with many killings reported far from the line itself, according to the UN.

Some 1.4 million people or 67 percent of Gaza’s population are currently experiencing crisis or worse levels of acute food scarcity, according to the latest IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification), down from 1.6 million (77 percnet) at the end of last year.

Around 212,000 people living near the Israeli military-controlled yellow line remain in emergency conditions, where access to to humanitarian aid and services remains particularly challenging, while four governorates – North Gaza, Caza, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis are predicted to face “alert” levels of maltrition, the statement said.

Despite a “significant scale-up” in food and nutrition aid since the ceasefire agreement of October 2025, food rations are still inadequate in terms of quantity, quality and dietary diversity. Inconsistent commercial imports of fresh produce and proteins compound the problem, the statement noted.

The overall improvement in malnutrition rates is main due to the rapid expansion of nutrition prevention programmes alongside increased access to treatment for severe and moderate malnutrition, the statement pointed out

“These gains remain highly dependent on sustained humanitarian assistance and have occurred despite continued shortages of nutritious foods, recurrent disease outbreaks, limited access to safe water and sanitation, and the near collapse of livelihoods,” the statement underlined.

Some 74,000 children are still expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition over the coming year, with approximately 25,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women requiring nutrition support in the same period.

There are early signs that local food production can be restored where farmers and herders are able to access cropland, agricultural inputs, productive assets, veterinary support and other essential services such as energy for irrigation, the statement underlined.

This is already evident in the livestock sector, where sheep inventories have increased by 33 percent in areas where support has been sustained and Gazans are showing considerable resourcefulness in restarting small-scale economic activity wherever conditions allow.

However, any significant recovery of Gazan livelihoods or broader economic activity can only begin with the removal of restrictions on what enters the Strip. More than 70 percent of Gaza’s cropland is inaccessible, placing it out of reach regardless of damage or input access, and just 3 percent is currently usable, the statement said.

Recovery cannot happen at scale while this land remains inaccessible and while there are continued restrictions on the commercial import and humanitarian delivery of agricultural inputs. This includes the import of non-dual-use agricultural inputs, such as seeds, organic fertilizers, fertilized eggs and small animals, for both commercial and humanitarian actors.

Sea access also remains prohibited, limiting people’s ability to produce food, earn an income and rebuild their lives – something which is impossible in the absence of sustained peace and security, the statement stressed. (Israeli soldiers have killed over 1,100 Palestinians since the October 2025 ceasefire amid intensified attacks, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.)

“Food security in Gaza cannot recover unless local food production starts again and farmers, herders, fishers and other producers can rebuild their livelihoods,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu.

“Producers need access to farmland and the sea, and to seeds, tools, livestock supplies and other agricultural inputs, as well as technical support. Restrictions on agricultural imports and humanitarian supplies must be lifted. Without these essentials, food production and security will remain a pressing situation,” said Qu

“Acute malnutrition has fallen, but many children are still going hungry, and some children may never fully recover from prolonged lack of proper nutrition,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This progress shows that when humanitarian access improves and aid gets through, children can be pulled back from the brink. But it rests on a supplementary feeding program that doesn’t reach all children, and where funding is running out. Without sustained access and funding, these gains could be lost within months,” Russel warned.

FAO, UNICEF and WFP are appealing to nations to scale up flexible and predictable funding for food and nutrition assistance, agricultural production, health care, water and sanitation services, and livelihood recovery programmes. With agencies’ current funding for Palestine fast running out, a failure to raise extra funds risks reversing hard-won gains, putting the lives of 2.1 million people in Gaza at further risk.

“There is progress on food security in Gaza, but it is fragile and can easily be reversed,” said Carl Skau, WFP’s Acting Executive Director. “The overall humanitarian situation remains brutal: families lack water, sanitation and medicine. We need sustained access, funding and stability so people of Gaza can begin recovery.”