Experts reject claims that new data disprove Gaza famine

A video shared by Christian Democrat MEP Alice Teodorescu Måwe questions reports of famine in Gaza, but the figures it cites do not show what conditions were like during the famine, according to UNICEF, SVT reports.

The video, published by the US pro-Israel outlet The Free Press, opens by claiming that “new information undermines claims of famine in Gaza”. Teodorescu Måwe shared it on X.

The report refers to a UNICEF-led team’s finding that 0.5 percent of children under five suffered from acute malnutrition between May 31 and June 15, 2026. An unnamed malnutrition expert quoted by The Free Press described the low level, less than a year after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared famine in Gaza City and surrounding areas, as “miraculous” and “unprecedented”.

The video’s reporter argues that the figures raise questions about the famine declaration and compares Gaza with South Sudan, where malnutrition has persisted for years after the IPC’s first famine classification.

Anneli Eriksson, a research specialist in global disaster medicine at Karolinska Institutet, rejected that reasoning.

“I don’t understand how you can use figures from the situation today and say that this disqualifies the situation as it was a year ago,” she said.

Eriksson said she had worked with severely acutely malnourished children who reached a normal weight within weeks after receiving proper treatment and food. The same improvement can occur at population level, she said, if sufficient food becomes available.

Alex de Waal, director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, also said the fall in acute malnutrition in Gaza was “not at all surprising”.

“The famine classification served its purpose. It forced Israel to allow aid to reach the population,” he told SVT.

Hanif Bali, a commentator and former Moderate Party member of the Swedish parliament, also shared the video. He described the Gaza famine as a “fake famine” and used “Pallywood”, a term used to dismiss images of Palestinian suffering as staged.

SVT said it had contacted Teodorescu Måwe, who declined to comment. Bali had not responded.

Famine classification in 2025

In August 2025, several United Nations agencies, including UNICEF and the World Food Programme, said that more than half a million people in Gaza City and surrounding areas were living in famine.

The agencies referred to an IPC report. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification is a partnership of 21 UN agencies and non-governmental organisations that classifies food security conditions in different parts of the world.

The report cited Israel’s blockade of emergency aid as one factor contributing to the famine. Israel demanded that the report be withdrawn and accused the IPC of methodological errors, selective use of data and ignoring increased aid deliveries. The IPC responded indirectly to several of the accusations in a publication on August 30, 2025.

When the IPC released its next report in December, a ceasefire had taken effect and the level of acute malnutrition had been downgraded to four on the five-point scale.