Gaza's Health Ministry has called for an international investigation after recording a sharp rise in congenital anomalies among newborns, as Israeli restrictions continue to obstruct medical supplies and access to essential healthcare despite the ceasefire. The ministry has documented 260 cases of congenital anomalies among newborns during the first nine months of 2026, compared with 184 throughout 2022 and 322 in 2025.

The reported conditions include cleft lip and palate, abnormalities of the external genitalia that make it difficult to determine a newborn's sex at birth, shortened upper limbs, and umbilical hernias. Some children have more than one congenital condition, increasing their need for specialist examinations, surgical interventions and long-term medical care that Gaza's damaged health system struggles to provide.

Health Ministry Director-General Munir al-Bursh warned that the figures constitute a serious health warning. He said any investigation should examine possible contributing factors, including maternal malnutrition, exposure to environmental pollutants and interruptions in prenatal care during the war. The figures alone do not establish the rate of congenital anomalies among newborns or their causes, and the ministry has called for an independent international scientific investigation to examine them properly.

Reporting on the same ministry data, Al Jazeera said stillbirths had risen by 140 percent between 2022 and 2025, while cases of congenital anomalies had doubled over the same period. Neonatal deaths were reported to be about 50 percent above pre-war levels. In a neonatal unit at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, newborn babies are fighting for their lives against severe congenital anomalies, including a two-month-old boy born with a hole in his heart and enlarged ventricles in his brain.

The latest report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, published on 6 November, warned that Israeli restrictions on essential supplies and equipment are threatening Gaza's already overstretched health services. According to the report, neonatal unit occupancy reached 151 percent in September, while special-care baby units were operating at 199 percent capacity, and nearly 63 percent of deliveries were classified as high-risk.

The crisis is unfolding as pregnant women and newborns face a healthcare system struggling to provide even basic services, with shortages of medicines, diagnostic equipment, incubators and specialist medical staff. The OCHA report also said Israeli authorities notified UN agencies on 1 November that humanitarian and commercial shipments from Egypt would be suspended. The World Health Organization has reported that tens of thousands of patients require specialised care that is unavailable inside the territory.

Human Rights Watch said in a January 2025 report that pregnant women in Gaza faced serious health risks because of the war, the blockade, the destruction of health facilities, and shortages of food, water and medicine. Those pressures have continued through the ceasefire, which took effect on 11 October 2025 but has not restored normal supplies or services.

The ministry's latest figures, reported on 6 November, show that 74,618 Palestinians have been killed and 175,925 wounded since 7 October 2023. Another 1,602 Palestinians have been killed and 5,799 wounded since the ceasefire took effect, according to the ministry. The ministry has not said when an investigation into the birth defect figures might begin or who would conduct it, but doctors say affected newborns need diagnostic testing, surgery and continuing care that is now in short supply.