Save the Children has been working to provide urgent supplies to children and families affected by this conflict.
Every war is a war against children. Children are always the first to suffer in any conflict, and children are paying the heaviest price as violence in Gaza and Israel escalates.
Since the escalation of violence, we have seen a huge outpouring of support from Kiwis. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to this emergency appeal.
What is the current situation?
As of 4 December 2023, over one million children – or the entire child population - in Gaza have been left with nowhere safe to go as ground military operations began in Khan Younis on Sunday 3 December 2023. Khan Younis is a city in the south of Gaza where the civilian population had previously been told to relocate for safety by Israeli forces but is now also under attack.
On Friday 1 December, a seven-day pause of hostilities in Gaza expired, and the bombardment resumed, killing over 700 people in one day, including children. Since then, Israeli forces have issued further relocation orders to civilians in the Khan Younis area, directing them west towards the coast, or south to the city of Rafah, while continuing to bombard both areas. Airstrikes have previously damaged residential buildings not only in the north but also in southern cities like Rafah and Khan Younis.
Children in Gaza are at risk of dying from starvation, dehydration, disease, and of course being killed by bombing and fighting which has already killed their loved ones, destroyed their homes, and put their futures at risk. And that's why we have been calling for a lasting ceasefire.
Bisen has been sharing stories of what life has been like on the ground. This is one of her vlogs from earlier in November. To see the most up to date videos and photos. Follow us on Facebook.
Donations raised as of 5 December 2023 $114,000 from 683 groups and individuals.
How are these donations helping?
Thanks to supporters here in New Zealand and around the world, our teams in occupied Palestinian territory and across the region (including our teams in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria) are providing lifesaving support and are ready to scale up our response when access is possible and fuel is available. Trucks are entering Gaza
Supplies from Save the Children are entering Gaza intermittently from Egypt, including water, PPE (Personal protective Equipment), dignity, hygiene, baby kits, and medical supplies in collaboration with the Egyptian Red Crescent. The temporary pause in fighting allowed some much-needed supplies to enter Gaza, but it is nowhere near enough to respond to the dire need of the population.
Children and families in Gaza are being supported
Save the Children has already:
- Distributed food parcels, water, hygiene products and recreational kits to families.
- Repaired sanitation facilities in shelters.
- Provided psychosocial support activities for children within shelters.
- Delivered cash to families so they can buy the essentials their own families need.
We will continue to respond in this way for as long as supplies and circumstances allow. But it is a drop in the ocean. Immediate, uncontrolled, and sustained access is urgently needed to enable the necessary full-scale response to critical and rising needs faced by children and families.
As soon as access is possible and fuel is available, we are ready to scale up our response further in Gaza through the planned activities below:
• Distributing more essential supplies, such as water, food, toiletries, cooking utensils, and other
household essentials
• Delivering further Mental Health and Psychosocial Support services for children and
caregivers
• Setting up child friendly spaces so children have a safe space to play and recover
• Distributing warm clothes and blankets, and more cash and vouchers so families can buy food,
medicines and any other essentials.
• Providing fuel and water infrastructure for hospitals and distributing water storage tanks
• Ensuring children continue to have access to education, by setting up temporary learning
spaces and repairing damaged schools
• Identifying the most at-risk children for referrals to protection related services
• Deploying our Emergency Health Unit and procuring essential medical equipment
We are helping children and families in arriving in the West Bank
Save the Children have provided multipurpose cash assistance and recreational kits to families in the West Bank who have been displaced by increased settler violence and military activity since 7 October. We have also distributed assistive devices to children with disabilities.
We are helping children and families in arriving in Egypt and Lebanon
Children and families are being supported with medical and essential items for displaced families.
Save the Children’s long-standing history
Save the Children has been providing essential services and support to Palestinian children impacted by the ongoing conflict since 1953 and have had a permanent presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1973. We are present in the West Bank and Gaza.
The existing humanitarian situation for families in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was already dire prior to the conflict– around 2.45 million people need assistance, including 1.2 million children. In Gaza, an estimated 80% of the population was reliant on humanitarian aid to survive and access basic services before the current escalation.
Now those needs have intensified, with families in Gaza struggling to get enough food, water, fuel and medical care. Our colleague in Gaza told us: “We are rationing water bottles. Food is running out. The wounded and sick cannot be treated. At night, children sit in the dark, in the black-out, wondering if they will live to see the morning.”