Every war is different; but the terrible impact on children’s lives is always the same. In Gaza, the relentless cycle of violence, displacement and insecurity has shattered people’s sense of normality and plunged them into suffering. Nowhere is this clearer than in the lives of children, who are exposed daily to extreme hardship and horrors. Surrounded by fear and devastation, they have been stripped of their fundamental rights including access to medicine, food and clean water.
Thousands of children across Gaza have been killed and thousands more face the grim reality of losing their entire world: family members, homes, schools and more. These children bear the burden of disrupted access to essential services, with the intense military operations depriving them of any form of education and safe healthcare services. As well as putting them in clear present danger, this trauma will undoubtably have long-lasting psychological effects.
This already desperate situation is worsened due to displacement. Families are forced to abandon their homes, meaning children are living in overcrowded and inadequate living conditions where the lack of proper basic infrastructure like sanitation makes them increasingly vulnerable to diseases.
The European Union is working with UNICEF to provide Gazan families with humanitarian cash assistance to purchase the resources these children desperately need. So far, this aid has reached over 233,000 children across more than 500,000 households.
