The escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip is having a catastrophic impact on children and families. Children are dying at an alarming rate – more than 14,000 have reportedly been killed, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and thousands more have been injured. Around 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip are estimated to have been internally displaced – half of them children. They do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine. Their homes have been destroyed; their families torn apart.
In Rafah, hundreds of thousands of children have taken shelter, many in tents or informal and unstable housing. Many children have been displaced multiple times and have lost homes, parents and loved ones. They need to be protected, along with the remaining services that they rely on, including medical facilities and shelter.
“Rafah is now a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza.”
Even wars have rules. No child should be cut off from essential services, nor fall from the reach of humanitarian hands. No child should be held hostage or used by any means in armed conflict. Hospitals and schools must be protected from bombings, and they must not be used for military purposes, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
