News

Israel’s aid restrictions mean that severe winter weather is cutting children in Gaza off from much-needed child protection and psychosocial support services, Save the Children said, as storms began again today

Israeli military operations have forced entire communities in areas of the northern West Bank into lockdown in their homes, keeping children out of school, jeopardising family incomes and increasing risk of physical violence and child detention from the Israeli military, Save the Children said.

Children in Gaza are sleeping on the bare ground with no shelter, in flimsy shorts and t-shirts that are sodden with sewage water after their tents flooded in a weekend of heavy rains, putting them at risk of disease, Save the Children said

One month after an agreed pause in hostilities in Gaza, children and families’ lives remain in limbo, with people unable to start repairs to homes without equipment and many scared to move due to unexploded ordinance or the fear of further airstrikes, Save the Children said.

“This cannot become the new normal under a ceasefire. A lasting ceasefire must mean safety, relief, and recovery for children not continued suffering. It must be fully respected and upheld."

From destroyed homes and playgrounds to dreams of becoming doctors, writers, and fashion designers, children in Gaza have expressed how two years of war have reshaped their lives and risk shattering their dreams in a series of drawings released today by Save the Children

Reports of an impending pause in hostilities in Gaza signals a hopeful reprieve on the horizon for families and children, but must be a turning point to secure a definitive ceasefire, said Save the Children.  

The leaders of over 20 major aid groups in Gaza call for urgent intervention after a UN commission concluding, for the first time, that genocide is being committed.

Two boys supported by Save the Children in Gaza were tragically killed after an Israeli airstrike hit the tent they were calling home. 

At least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by Israeli forces in Gaza over nearly 23 months of war, with the number of children killed now surpassing 20,000. 
 

At least one Palestinian child has been killed every hour on average by Israeli forces in Gaza over nearly 23 months of war, with the number of children killed now surpassing 20,000, Save the Children said.

Below is a statement from Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, 27th August.

The reported deaths of 100 children due to starvation in Gaza since October 2023 is a devastating milestone that shames the world and demands long overdue urgent action, Save the Children said.

More than four in 10 (43%) pregnant and breastfeeding women seeking treatment at Save the Children’s clinics in Gaza in July were malnourished, said Save the Children. 

The number of children under-five with acute malnutrition seen at Save the Children’s Gaza clinics has surged 10-fold in four months in Gaza, as the global humanitarian authority on hunger crises warned that famine is unfolding.

As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.

More children were displaced in the West Bank during the first half of 2025 due to the demolitions of their homes compared to any other first half year period since records began in 2009.

Fuel shortages in Gaza could cut off supplies of clean drinking water to about 44,000 children supported by Save the Children in a matter of days, increasing the risk of waterborne illnesses such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery, with these children only a small number of those impacted by fuel running out.  

130+ NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies.

Some families in Gaza are so desperate – in some cases due to a lack of a healthy adult – that they are sending children to collect food at distribution points, unavoidably exposing them to the risk of being shot by Israeli forces.

"Aid is a right, and humanitarian organisations know how to deliver it – but we’re not being allowed to do it."

"Humanitarian aid must be safe, impartial, and based on need, not accessed through facial recognition, biometric screening, or under the watch of armed personnel."