Gaza’s maternal and newborn health system ‘decimated’, UN warns

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Gaza’s health system for mothers and newborns has been “decimated”, the UN said on Thursday, with Israeli attacks destroying almost all hospitals, cutting off medical supplies and driving sharp rises in maternal deaths, miscarriages and newborn fatalities amid mass displacement and hunger.

According to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023, when Palestinian armed groups attacked communities in southern Israel, triggering Israel’s full-scale military assault on the enclave.

OHCHR said 94 per cent of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, leaving pregnant women and newborns without essential care.

“The Israeli blockade has also prevented the entry of objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including medical supplies and nutrients required to sustain pregnancies and ensure safe childbirth,” the Office said.

By late 2024, women in Gaza were three times more likely to die in childbirth and three times more likely to miscarry compared with pre-war levels, while newborn deaths also increased, OHCHR reported.

Hospitals destroyed, medical staff killed

Israeli strikes hit maternity wards and neonatal intensive care units, while the December 2023 shelling of Gaza’s largest fertility clinic caused the loss of over 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm and egg specimens.

Medical personnel have also been targeted, OHCHR said, citing Palestinian Ministry of Health figures reporting 1,722 healthcare workers killed as of September 2025.

Dr. Ambereen Sleemi, a gynecologist who volunteered in Gaza, told OHCHR: “As we did our rounds, bombs were going off in the background…Sometimes quadcopters would come in and try to shoot nurses or literally chase them through the hospital corridors.”

She said pregnant women arrived with gunshot wounds, including to the abdomen.

“Many women were simply too injured to survive. If their injuries did not claim their lives, then sepsis often did, as there were not enough medical supplies or antibiotics.”

Hunger factor

The blockade has driven severe shortages of food and baby formula. As of October 2025, 463 Palestinians had died from malnutrition, including 157 children, the Ministry of Health reported.

Jonathan Crix of UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Gaza, told UN News that children and families enduring winter storms in makeshift tents:

“Everything was completely damp…the mattresses were wet; the children’s clothes were wet. It’s extremely difficult to live in those conditions.”

He warned of a surge in acute watery diarrhoea and fears of further disease outbreaks.

“With the very poor hygiene conditions and very limited sanitation system available, we are extremely concerned to see the spreading of waterborne diseases.”

Soundcloud

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/2228036276&visual=&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_artwork=true&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&download=false&buying=false&sharing=false&show_teaser=false&single_active=true&color=%23ff5500 Jonathan Cricx, UNICEF Spokesperson.

West Bank barriers grow

OHCHR also voiced alarm over Israel’s construction of a new barrier and road in the Jordan Valley.

Ajith Sunghay, the Head of Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said this would “separate Palestinian communities from each other and the Palestinian farmers in Tubas from land they own on the other side of the planned barrier.”

He also warned that it would be “another step towards the progressive fragmentation of the West Bank, which will eventually lead to the consolidation of annexation,” stressing that that rights of Palestinian refugee status “cannot be stripped or altered by unilateral coercive measures.”