Gaza Herald – The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor affirmed that Israel is manipulating UNICEF nutrition data to deny the scale of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza, saying that Israeli authorities selectively promoted the lowest available figure while ignoring broader indicators of the humanitarian crisis.
According to the monitor, Israel has highlighted a figure of 0.5% for acute malnutrition based solely on the weight-for-height indicator. When mid-upper arm circumference is also considered, the rate rises to 1.3%, meaning roughly one in every 77 children under five was suffering from acute malnutrition during the study period.
The monitor also pointed to a far broader warning sign that Israel’s narrative leaves out: stunting affected 12.2% of children, or approximately one in eight. Unlike acute wasting, stunting reflects prolonged nutritional deprivation and chronic stress, making it a critical indicator of the long-term impact of Gaza’s food crisis.
Euro-Med further rejected comparisons promoted by Israel between Gaza and countries such as Germany and Finland, stressing them as statistically misleading because they rely on isolated indicators and data collected during different years. The organization also noted that the UNICEF study covered only 83% of Gaza’s population, while more than 358,000 Palestinians were excluded because of security restrictions.
The monitor stressed that the UNICEF study did not conclude that famine does not exist in Gaza. Rather, it measured nutritional conditions during a limited period in June 2026, while famine assessments under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification rely on a combination of food consumption, malnutrition and mortality indicators across specific locations and periods.
The latest food-security assessments released in July, Euro-Med said, continue to warn of a severe crisis. Around 1.4 million Palestinians are expected to face acute food insecurity through the end of 2026, while more than 74,000 children could require treatment for acute malnutrition by April 2027. The monitor emphasized that any improvement remains heavily dependent on humanitarian aid rather than a genuine recovery in Gaza’s ability to produce or access food.
Euro-Med also accused Israel of selectively using UNICEF reports while ignoring their documentation of at least 265 Palestinian children reportedly killed since the ceasefire began, roughly one child every day. The monitor argued that hunger and starvation cannot be erased through selective statistics, stressing that the deliberate deprivation of civilians and obstruction of humanitarian assistance remain serious violations regardless of whether a formal famine threshold is declared.
