Children in Gaza have faced months of relentless bombing.
They are being killed by bombs and bullets at an unprecedented rate. They are dying because of hunger and disease. They have lost homes, loved ones, and the safety to which they have a right.
Families are struggling to find enough food and water, with children already dying because of malnutrition and disease. The situation has never been more desperate - 96% of the population are facing severe food shortages, as a result of the ongoing violence, displacement and restrictions on aid.
On top of this, over 20,000 children are currently missing in the chaos of war. Thousands are presumed dead beneath the rubble. Others have been harmed beyond recognition by explosives, buried in unmarked or mass graves, or have been detained or abducted.
Donate now to protect children living in crisis.
New Israeli orders force thousands in Deir al-Balah to flee again, disrupting the last aid hub in Gaza and our ability to support families.
Families in Gaza have nowhere safe to go. We need a definitive ceasefire now.
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.
The situation is evolving fast and the violence continues. Our teams and partners have been working around the clock to get vital supplies to families in Gaza.
Since October, we’ve helped more than 788,000 people in the region, including 764,000 people in Gaza.
We’re providing food, water, toiletries, blankets and cash to families. Our Emergency Health Unit is treating sick, injured and malnourished children, providing maternal and newborn care and mental health support for children. We’ve set up safe spaces for children to play, learn and process the traumatic events they are going through.
We’re doing everything possible to help families get through this. But to give children all the support they need right now, we need a definitive ceasefire and improved humanitarian access. Since October, aid has been blocked, delayed, attacked and denied and it is challenging children’s survival at every turn.
We are by children’s side 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.
