War in Gaza

In 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically Gaza, became the deadliest place on earth to be a child.

After 19 months of war, a staggering toll on civilians and aid workers, and now over 2 months of total siege by Israeli authorities, the humanitarian aid system in Gaza is facing total collapse. As a result, children's lives continue to hang in the balance. 

Since 2 March 2025, absolutely no humanitarian aid or commercial goods have entered Gaza, putting all 1 million of Gaza’s children at risk of famine and creating conditions incompatible with life.

Gaza’s children are being bombed in their tents and makeshift shelters as the inescapable living nightmare continues in Gaza. This massacre comes after they’ve been cut off from essential and much needed food and aid, compounding already decimated conditions for their survival.

Denying humanitarian aid is a crime under international law and a grave violation against children. The international community must not allow the war to continue and the halt on aid must be immediately reversed.

A definitive ceasefire is the only way to save lives in Gaza and end grave violations of children’s rights. There is no alternative.

The lives of Gaza's 1.1 million children depend on it.

Amidst extremely challenging conditions, we’ve been working around the clock to find ways to deliver aid to children.

Save the Children has been supporting Palestinian children since 1953 and has maintained a permanent presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since 1973. Our response has significantly scaled up since October 2023, leveraging our existing footprint, technical expertise, and partnerships to address the evolving humanitarian crisis. 

As of 11th March 2025, Save the Children and its partners have reached more than 1.5 million people across the occupied Palestinian territory, including over 1.4 million people in Gaza.

During the pause in hostilities from the 19th January to the 18th March, we provided essential lifesaving aid to over 51,000 people. This included distributing winter clothing to over 15,000 children in Gaza, and food parcels to over 23,000 people. In February, a total of 1,341 children, were vaccinated in our Primary Healthcare Centre in Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis as part of the third polio vaccination campaign.

We have also distributed essential items such as mattresses, pillows, blankets and plastic tarps to families that have returned to northern Gaza, while continuing to provide healthcare services at our two primary healthcare centres and mental health support at our child friendly spaces. Despite this, the needs are vast and ever-growing.

Alongside local partners, we’re distributing vital supplies to families across shelters and households – drinking water, food, hygiene products, mattresses, blankets, learning materials, toys, and games.

We are prepared to scale up further in Gaza to respond to the spiralling needs. But the basic conditions to reach families need to be established by the Government of Israel by lifting the siege and facilitating the safe, unobstructed delivery of aid across Gaza.

Since the pause in Gaza collapsed and the Government of Israel re-imposed a total siege on the entry of aid and goods into Gaza, all that has entered Gaza are bombs and bullets. This complete siege is the longest the Israeli Government has blocked all aid and commercial goods from entering Gaza. Instead of much needed food, clothing or tents to help Gaza’s children survive, airstrikes are being launched into Gaza, killing, maiming, and destroying the lives of children and families. 

We are by children’s sides in Gaza and we’ll keep calling for a world that respects their right to survive and be protected. But we can’t do it without your support.

Tima* (26) found out she was pregnant in July 2023. She was excited to be having her second child. Then in October 2023, the war in Gaza started and everything changed.

Tima* and her family now live in a tent in central Gaza. She was very worried about where she would give birth safely until she found Save the Children’s new maternity unit, set up by our Emergency Health Unit.

Tima ended up giving birth there and her daughter Lana* became the first baby to be born in our maternity unit.

Although baby Lana was healthy when she left the hospital, after three days she developed a fever, refused to breastfeed and had blood coming from her umbilical cord. Baby Lana had contracted sepsis due to the tough living conditions in Al-Mawasi where her family lives in a tent.

If left untreated, sepsis can easily kill a baby. But Lana was lucky to be treated in time at our hospital and has now made a full recovery.