More than 54,600 children younger than 5 may be acutely malnourished in Gaza, study finds

After two years of war and dire food shortages, more than 54,600 children younger than 5 in Gaza may be acutely malnourished, with more than 12,800 severely affected, according to a new study by a U.N. agency.

By early August, roughly 16% of children ages 6 months to just under 5 years in Gaza were suffering from a life-threatening type of malnutrition known as acute wasting, including nearly 4% with severe wasting, according to the analysis by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the primary health care provider to Palestinian refugees in the region.

Wasting requires treatment with therapeutic food over several weeks and, sometimes, hospitalization.

The study, published Wednesday in The Lancet medical journal, is the most comprehensive study of child hunger in the region to date, the authors said. It relied on screenings of nearly 220,000 children from dozens of health centers and medical sites in Gaza between January 2024 and mid-August.

“Tens of thousands of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are now suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and face an increased risk of mortality,” said Dr. Masako Horino, the study’s lead scientist, in a statement.

In a commentary accompanying the study, three experts in child health, nutrition and public policy who were not involved in the research called it the “some of the most definitive evidence” of the extent of malnourishment.

“It is now well established that the children of Gaza are starving and require immediate and sustained humanitarian assistance,” wrote Jessica Fanzo of Columbia University, Paul Wise of Stanford University and Zulfiqar Bhutta of Aga Khan University in Pakistan and the Hospital for Sick Children in Canada.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports of starvation during the war triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, saying they were “lies” promoted by Hamas.

But experts and aid groups have warned for months that Israel’s restrictions of food and aid into Gaza and a relentless military offensive were causing starvation, particularly in children and pregnant women.

Gaza’s health ministry said 461 people, including 157 children, have died from complications of malnutrition since the war started, most of them in 2025. Hospitals have been overwhelmed with malnourished children, amid a severe shortage of therapeutic foods, according to the ministry. The U.N. and many independent experts consider figures from the health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, to be most reliable.

For the study, trained nurses used calibrated tapes to measure the circumference of children’s mid-upper arms, a standard tool for evaluating nutritional stress. Very thin arms, less than 125 millimeters, or 4.9 inches, correlate with very thin bodies, the scientists said.

Rates of malnutrition decreased during periods when aid was allowed into Gaza, such as a six-week ceasefire in early 2025. But the children's conditions worsened when supplies were blocked for weeks or months at a time, the study found.

Israel has restricted aid to varying degrees throughout the war, imposing a total siege for weeks starting in March for over two months. In May, it began allowing a trickle of aid. A controversial U.S.-Israel backed supplies distribution system began in May, limiting aid distribution to four sites around Gaza and requiring Palestinians to pass through Israeli military lines to get aid. More than 1,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in and around those sites, according to the U.N.

Edesia, a U.S.-based nonprofit food aid organization, said it was able to send shipments of therapeutic food to Gaza. The group shipped 1,500 boxes of the products on Sept. 28 and plans to send nearly 15,000 boxes by air and sea over the next month, according to founder Navyn Salem.

The study follows an August report by U.N.-backed food security experts that confirmed famine in parts of Gaza. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the world’s leading authority on food crises, had been warning that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were facing catastrophic levels of hunger for months. Experts said lack of data had prevented a declaration of famine earlier.

Two workers involved in the malnutrition screening program were among 21 UN Relief and Works Agency health workers who have been killed in Gaza. Overall, more than 370 agency staff have been killed in the conflict, the group said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE.- Yazan Abu Ful, a 2-year-old malnourished child, poses for a photo at his family home in the Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi,File)

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — Benin President Patrice Talon on Sunday condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the country's army in his first public comments since sporadic gunfire was heard in parts of the administrative capital, Cotonou.

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin ’s state TV earlier Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, which would have been the latest of many in West Africa. The group called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation.

Later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou announced in a video on Facebook that the attempted coup had been “foiled,” but Talon, whose location was unclear, did not comment.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by the fleeing mutineers,” the president said in a televised address to the nation that ended his silence. "I assure them that we will do everything in our power to find them safe and sound.”

The coup attempt is the latest in a string of military takeovers and attempted takeovers that have rocked West Africa. Last month, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.

Talon did not provide figures on casualties or hostages in Sunday's attempted coup.

“In the early morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny to destabilize the state and its institutions,” Seidou said. “Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic.”

The regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said it ordered the deployment of troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana to support Benin's army to “preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin.”

ECOWAS earlier called the attempted coup “a subversion of the will of the people of Benin.”

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu praised the Nigerian armed forces for their involvement in restoring the government in Benin. In a statement by the Nigerian government's spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga said Benin's government made two separate requests for air and ground forces.

“It took some hours before the government’s loyal forces, assisted by Nigeria, took control and flushed out the coup plotters from the National TV,” Onanuga said in the statement.

Local media reported the arrest of 13 soldiers who took part in the coup earlier on Sunday, citing sources close to the presidency. It remained unclear if Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, the coup leader, had been apprehended. Gunfire was heard and soldiers were seen patrolling in some locations in Cotonou, but the city has been relatively calm since the coup attempt was announced.

The Military Committee for Refoundation earlier said that Tigri was appointed president of the military committee.

Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed multiple coups. Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following the two-decade rule of Marxist-Leninist Mathieu Kérékou.

The signal to the state television and public radio, which was cut off, was later restored.

Talon has been in power since 2016 and is due to step down next April after a presidential election.

Talon’s party pick, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is the favorite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors.

In January, two associates of Talon were sentenced to 20 years in prison for an alleged 2024 coup plot.

Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two.

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

People gather near a roadway amid an attempted coup in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

People on motorcycles pass by soldiers guarding a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Benin's President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)