Alarm in Gaza: cases of a neurological disease linked to hunger are skyrocketing.

BarcelonaA rare neurological disease has spread to the Gaza Strip, especially among children, according to an alert issued by the Hamas-backed Health Ministry. Over the past week, at least 95 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an immune-mediated disease that affects peripheral nerves and causes paralysis, have been detected. The disease has particularly affected children. The muscles, starting in the lower limbs, gradually become flaccid until the paralysis reaches the respiratory muscles, where it becomes life-threatening. At least three people have died from the disease since July—two of them under the age of fifteen—from being unable to receive adequate treatment due to the Israeli blockade.

But while the disease affects the immune system, it is often triggered by an infection. "Malnutrition and health problems facilitate infections," explains Montse Montraveta, a specialist in gastroenterology and nutrition at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and member of the Catalan Society of Pediatrics, to ARA, "firstly, because health problems cause more infections and, secondly, because there is more infections and, secondly, malnutrition."

Most of deaths from malnutrition in Gaza They are not caused by a lack of food that ultimately leads to multiple organ failure, but rather are a consequence of associated diseases that proliferate due to the body's weakness. The most problematic are infections. "Gaza, with a devastated healthcare system, destroyed hospitals without electricity, lack of drinking water, and the impossibility of vaccinating, is the perfect setting for infections," says Xoan González Rioja, a doctor in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Sant Pau Hospital. "Malnutrition is not a disease, it is a breeding ground for future illnesses," emphasizes Antoni Pérez, director of Save the Children Catalunya.

The inhabitants of Gaza have suffered from hunger since the beginning of the siege, but deaths from starvation have skyrocketed in recent weeks, coinciding with the depletion of food reserves for humanitarian organizations, which have been unable to bring food into the enclave since Israel banned them in March. According to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, eighteen people had died of starvation in Gaza as of July 20, while at least 193 have died since that date.

UNICEF data is also devastating. By July 2025, more than 320,000 children—that is, all children under five in the Gaza Strip—are at risk of acute malnutrition, and thousands of them suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most lethal form of malnutrition. Meanwhile, the NGO Save the Children reports that the number of children under five with acute malnutrition treated in its clinics in Gaza has increased tenfold in the last four months.

"We are not being able to bring in food," Pérez complains. "Our doctors are talking about an increase in [malnutrition] cases and a trickle of deaths." This humanitarian worker explains that in Gaza, as in most humanitarian crises, children account for half of the deaths. "Before the conflict, there was no malnutrition in Gaza. There was no shortage of food," adds Montserrat Escruela, head of Health and Nutrition at Médecins Sans Frontières, who denounces that due to the Israeli blockade, their "stocks are running out."

The first 1,000 days, the most critical time

But what happens to the human body when it goes without food for such long periods? Why are children so vulnerable to illness? The professionals consulted by ARA agree that the first 1,000 days of life are the most critical for a child's development. During this early stage, basic neural connections are formed, vital organs develop, and the foundations for growth are laid. Therefore, if a child develops severe malnutrition at this stage, they can suffer lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities.

"Between zero and two years of age, a healthy child reaches many developmental milestones that we consider normal. At this time, there is an explosion of acquisition of new skills and connections in the brain. If there isn't enough energy, some skills may not be achieved or may not be achieved with the same potential," says Gonzá. That's why malnutrition during this period "has a much more severe impact and irreversible long-term consequences," Montraveta concludes. Escurela certifies that this is the most "critical" moment in which your organization must intervene.

Until the age of five, essential physiological processes for development continue to occur, such as the maturation of the immune system and the proper functioning of the endocrine axis. Sustained hunger can alter these mechanisms, just as it does during puberty: if the adequate supply of nutrients is cut off at that time, essential processes such as hormonal development can be halted.

When the body stops ingesting the food and nutrients necessary for proper functioning, it consumes reserves that it shouldn't: "After a few initial days of reserves where fats and sugars are burned, the body begins to consume its own muscles and visceral fat, even in sensitive areas.

explains González. "The body tries to protect the most noble organs like the brain and heart for as long as possible," Montraveta emphasizes. Over time, if the lack of nutrition persists for weeks or months, the body enters a state of reduced basal metabolism, which leads to lower energy expenditure, but at the expense of essential physiological functions.

A generation affected with lifelong consequences

One of the first systems to suffer is the immune system. The body's natural defenses—such as immunoglobulins—are weakened, and the body becomes much more vulnerable to infections. Furthermore, very low levels of protein in the blood, known as hypoproteinemia, mean that even though the baby has very little muscle mass, it has abdominal swelling and distension. This inflammation paradoxically means that nutrients are absorbed less well and babies have more diarrhea.

While some of these symptoms can be reversed, when hunger has lasted for so long At a delicate age, there are many irreversible consequences, such as developmental delays, a decrease in IQ, growth retardation, metabolic alterations (which promote the development of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease), and the permanent weakening of the immune system. "It's not just about killing, but about influencing an entire community for decades," denounces the Save the Children spokesperson, who warns that the physical consequences (and, obviously, the psychological ones as well) will affect the inhabitants of Gaza for life.

To remedy acute malnutrition, it is obviously necessary to reintroduce food, but that alone is not enough. It is necessary for feeding to be carried out in a controlled and progressive manner to avoid a so-called "refeedback syndrome." "Now that we are sick, we also need nutritional treatment," laments Escruela.

In this sense, NGOs criticize the Israeli government's cosmetic operation of allowing, only after months of strong international pressure, the entry of some trucks with supplies and the "inefficient" launch of humanitarian aid by air. "[International organizations] have come to the conclusion of how the distribution of humanitarian aid should be done through experience. These [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] cannot come and congratulate themselves on how they are distributing 1 million rations a day. A figure that, by the way, is quite improbable," says Pérez. "It is totally intentional. It is happening. People are killing each other to access the remaining bags." "The humanitarian space must be independent and neutral," he concludes.