Amid a Spike of Severe Malnutrition in Gaza, 1/5 o

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
May 21, 2025 

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Logan Bayroff, West End Strategy Team 
[email protected] | 516-965-5159 

Amid a Spike of Severe Malnutrition in Gaza, 1/5 of Gaza Hospitals Attacked In Past Week 

Kamal Adwan hospital the latest to be put out of service  

In Northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan hospital was put out of service today, including MedGlobal’s malnutrition treatment clinic, as Israeli forces and drones surround the area. The hospital building was already severely damaged from Israeli attacks last fall, leading MedGlobal to set up a tent clinic in the courtyard to resume lifesaving services. Over the past year, the clinic has conducted nutrition screenings for over 14,000 children under the age of five. Today’s attacks have now shuttered this last lifeline for the community. 

Across Gaza, a months-long aid blockade is causing a sharp rise of acute malnutrition in children and adults, while recent multiple attacks on 1/5 of the still-operational hospitals in Gaza extinguish access to vital life-saving medical care.  

At least one in five people in Gaza, over 500,000, do not have enough food to meet basic nutritional requirements, with thousands of babies and young children at particular risk if full and extensive aid deliveries are not swiftly resumed. The malnutrition prevalence rate has tripled since the blockade , rising from 2.4% in February to 6.1% in May. 70,000 children now suffer from acute malnutrition, many of whom are being treated in MedGlobal-supported therapeutic nutritional centers. The partial resumption of aid deliveries  this week is nowhere near sufficient to reverse the trend.  

“Right now, 70,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition – a death sentence for their bodies and minds,” said Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of MedGlobal. “The damage is permanent: stunted growth, crippled immunity, and brains that will never fully develop. These children will struggle to heal, to fight diseases, even to survive. Their stolen potential weakens entire communities for generations.” 

As the need for medical care grows more acute, MedGlobal and its humanitarian aid partners are again experiencing the targeting and closure of hospitals and healthcare facilities.  

The closure of Kamal Adwan Hospital follows other recent attacks on several of Gaza’s remaining hospitals. In just over a week, five of Gaza’s remaining 22 functional hospitals came under attack. Last week, Israeli strikes hit both Nasser hospital  and European Hospital – the two main hospitals in Khan Younis. It was the second attack on Nasser Hospital within two months. The attacks shut down European Hospital – the only remaining cancer treatment facility in Gaza, impacting 10,000 cancer patients. ICU, NICU and emergency care services at the hospital have also been lost.  

This week Indonesian Hospital was attacked and surrounded by Israeli forces, forcing a suspension in services. An attack on Nasser Hospital damaged a medical warehouse, destroying WHO supplies. Airstrikes  hit Indonesian hospital’s generators, sparking a fire and damaging its main power supply. Nearby Al-Awda Hospital also faced fire from drones and was shelled. It is the last functional hospital for North Gaza, but WHO now reports it is at risk of closure. 

“Hospitals are protected spaces under international law. These multiple attacks in recent days are blatant violations, and they are not only deadly in the first instance, but leave a long wake of death behind them as people have fewer and fewer options to receive life-saving health care,” said Salwa Al-Tibi, MedGlobal’s Gaza Country Director. 

Only 20 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functioning. Roughly 20 percent of Gaza’s remaining hospitals have been attacked or besieged in the past ten days. 

 “Every day we are losing more basic services and treatment facilities, including malnutrition care facilities that are desperately needed amid growing starvation,” Al-Tibi said. “Full delivery of aid must be resumed, our hospitals and treatment points must be allowed to operate, and people must be given free movement and safe passage to reach these facilities to receive care.”  

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About MedGlobal 

MedGlobal is a humanitarian nonprofit organization that provides emergency medical response and health programs to build resilience among vulnerable communities around the world. The organization’s health programs support victims of crisis and conflict, refugees, internally displaced persons, and marginalized communities in disaster-affected and low-resource settings.