Key facts
- Miscarriage rates in Gaza have surged significantly since October 2023, with current rates around 460 per 1,000 births.
- Health officials attribute the rise to war-related factors including malnutrition, anemia, contaminated water, and exposure to explosives.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health recorded 3,958 miscarriages in the first six months of 2026.
- Hospitals are also reporting a drastic increase in premature births and severe congenital abnormalities.
- Many pregnant women suffer from severe anemia, compounded by widespread malnutrition and food insecurity.
Miscarriage rates in the Gaza Strip have surged dramatically since October 2023, with health officials and affected individuals attributing the increase directly to the ongoing Israeli military operations and siege. Sahar al-Majdalawi, a 34-year-old displaced Palestinian woman, recounted her experience of walking for hours to reach a hospital after suffering severe abdominal pain, only to discover she had miscarried. She believes the war's conditions, including displacement, exhaustion, injuries, and famine, caused her loss.
According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, miscarriage rates were around 300 percent higher than before October 2023 at the height of the conflict. Data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health indicates 3,958 miscarriages were recorded in the first six months of 2026, a figure described as shocking by Dr. Adnan Radi, head of the ministry's advisory committee. Radi estimates that hundreds of miscarriages go unrecorded due to the inability of many women to reach medical facilities.
Physicians like Dr. Radi attribute the surge in miscarriages to a combination of factors stemming from the war, including severe anemia affecting approximately 70 percent of pregnant women, widespread malnutrition, infectious diseases, contaminated water, poor sanitation, and exposure to toxic dust from explosives. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has warned that about 67 percent of Gaza's population faces critical levels of food insecurity, with nearly 25,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women requiring urgent nutritional support.
Beyond miscarriages, hospitals are also observing unprecedented numbers of premature births and babies born with severe congenital abnormalities. Dr. Radi noted a drastic increase in severe fetal abnormalities, such as babies born without limbs, which were previously extremely rare. Unicef reported in February that nearly one in five newborns in Gaza required intensive care or thermal incubation due to maternal malnutrition, chronic stress, and a lack of prenatal care.