Occupied Palestinian Territory

Save the Children has worked in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since 1953, with a permanent presence since 1973. Since then, we have worked with partners to help provide quality education, protection for children, early childhood development support, and employment opportunities for at-risk youth. We also focus on child-centred climate change programming, advocacy and campaigning, on environmental education, community-based adaptation and climate activism.

Operating in severe insecurity amid unprecedented levels of violence, systematic obstruction of aid by Israeli authorities, famine and the near collapse of all formal services in Gaza, as well as hostilities, continued displacement and increased settler violence in the West Bank, we have rapidly adapted our programming to remain operational and responsive. Despite the increasingly complex and evolving situation, we are doing all we can to ensure we reach children and their families. 

Palestinian children continue to carry the weight of the occupation. Decades of conflict, the ongoing military occupation, and the blockade of Gaza hinder the right to self-determination and consequently have adverse impacts on the development of Palestinian communities, greatly increasing the vulnerability of children.

For too long, the occupation has denied the rights of Palestinian children and stolen their childhoods, exposing them to violence, arbitrary detentions, and cutting them off from their homes, schools and other essential services. Ultimately, the root causes of repeated bouts of violence and a decades-long child rights crisis in the oPt must be addressed. Only an end to the occupation can create the conditions for lasting peace and protection for children.

Palestinian children are the only children in the world who are systematically prosecuted in military courts. These courts consistently fail to offer the right to a fair trial and do not meet juvenile justice standards. Instead, it is an abusive, inhumane prosecution system, where children are being physically, emotionally and sexually abused, humiliated and starved.  

The widespread and systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian children within the Israeli military system is a long-standing human rights and child rights crisis. All Palestinian children arbitrarily held in Israeli military detention must be released immediately and unconditionally. No child should ever come in contact with a military court or any court that lacks comprehensive fair trial rights and basic safeguards. This decades-old protection crisis for Palestinian children has reached devastating new levels of abuse and deprivation.