Conflict in Gaza will have a lasting impact on children
- Every child, parent and caregiver in Gaza is experiencing trauma, which could require long-term mental health and psycho-social support.
- Food insecurity is widespread, with increased malnutrition rates among children under five, jeopardizing their health and survival.
- Children have missed a full year of school. That means they are not just behind developmentally, they have lost the safe space school would provide.
- The IRC continues to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire as the only way to protect Palestinian lives and enable the release of the remaining hostages.
Israeli forces began airstrikes and ground operations after Hamas and other armed groups launched a deadly ground incursion and rocket barrage on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 200 hostages. Israeli airstrikes, bombing and ground-level fighting have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to OCHA, which bases its figures on the Gaza Ministry of Health statistics. Attacks have also destroyed homes, hospitals, schools, shelters, religious sites, and essential services like bakeries, leaving no place safe across the whole of Gaza. These continuous attacks have significantly obstructed humanitarian efforts, further limiting the delivery of crucial aid to those in need.
3.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Gaza and the West Bank. More than two million Palestinians in Gaza—half of them children—are living without access to sufficient water, food and medical care.
Israeli operations have caused severe destruction and widespread death in Gaza. According to OCHA, which bases its figures on the Gazan Ministry of Health statistics, of the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed, more than 50% are women and children. Over 94,000 have reportedly been injured. 1.9 million Palestinians (over 80% of the current population) have been displaced. Every person there is in need of humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, the West Bank is facing the worst violence since the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) records began in 2005.
In Gaza, mass displacement has worsened conditions in what was already one of the most densely populated places in the world. People are living in tents or self-built shelters that are ill-suited to weather conditions, exacerbate protection risks, and fail to provide any sort of privacy or dignity.
The crowded conditions and lack of basic hygiene are creating a public health risk at a time when the health care system is on the brink of collapse. Attacks on and fighting around hospitals have left much of Gaza’s population without access to medical care, and the huge number of casualties have left facilities overwhelmed. Only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially functional. All are facing extreme shortages in staff, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and fuel.
With only one out of three water pipelines coming from Israel operational, lack of access to clean water is driving people to rely on unhealthy water sources. There are reports that the population of Gaza is surviving with one quarter of the amount of water they had before the latest escalation.
The entire population of Gaza is facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity. Virtually all households are skipping meals daily, with many going full days without food. Persistent Israeli restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into and around Gaza are driving a desperate shortage of food, fuel, medicine, equipment and humanitarian staff in Gaza. Humanitarians are unable to operate effectively and safely under the current conditions.
Children are bearing the brunt of the conflict. An estimated 8,000 have been killed and thousands more are missing. Tens of thousands more have been left unaccompanied or separated from their families. One-third of children under the age of three are malnourished. All have lost access to education.
In the West Bank, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 25% of them children, nearly a 123% increase compared to the same period last year. At the same time, 20 Israelis were killed in the West Bank.
The IRC is concerned about the impact of intensifying violence on the health care access and delivery, where our partners are surging medical supplies to the impacted hospitals. The fighting is taking place close to hospitals and is obstructing ambulances, which restricts Palestinians’ access to urgent medical care.
In Gaza, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is working directly and with partners to deliver water, sanitation, and hygiene services, children and women's protection programming, nutrition, and early childhood development activities for children. The IRC and partners are providing emergency, life-saving medical care in Gaza’s few remaining operational hospitals. IRC and partners are also procuring and distributing medical supplies and medicine.
In the West Bank the IRC and our partners are offering mental health and psychological support, protection services for women and children, and early childhood development activities. IRC and partners are also working to strengthen care of trauma patients and bolster medical supplies through mobile health teams.
The IRC is calling for all parties to agree to an immediate and lasting ceasefire as envisaged by UN Security Council Resolution 2735. From a humanitarian perspective, a ceasefire is the only way to fully protect Palestinian lives, secure the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, and safely scale-up humanitarian assistance and service delivery.
The IRC is also calling for a humanitarian reset and an immediate and significant scale up of humanitarian aid. Persistent Israeli restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into and around Gaza are driving a desperate shortage of food, fuel, medicine, equipment and humanitarian staff in Gaza. Humanitarians are unable to operate effectively and safely under the current conditions.
Finally, the IRC is calling for all parties to immediately take steps to protect civilians and uphold international law.