Gaza Newborn Mortality Rates Up 75 Percent

“At least 165 children have died, painful, preventable deaths related to malnutrition during the war in the Gaza Strip,” UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram said at a UN briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

She warned that a far less reported crisis is unfolding among pregnant and breastfeeding women, with devastating consequences for newborns.

➤ The pattern: Malnourished mothers are giving birth to premature or underweight babies who die in neonatal units or survive with severe, lifelong health risks.

➤ Before the war (2022): About 250 babies per month were born underweight, roughly 5% of births.

➤ First half of 2025: Underweight births doubled to 10%, about 300 babies per month, despite fewer total births.

➤ July–September 2025: The figure surged to 460 babies per month, around 15 per day, nearly double pre-war levels.

Ingram said she met newborns weighing less than one kilogram, their chests heaving as they struggled to breathe. Low-birth-weight babies are 20 times more likely to die, yet Gaza’s hospitals lack the equipment needed to save them due to the destruction of the health system, the death and displacement of staff, and Israeli restrictions blocking essential medical supplies.