Effect of the Gaza war on children in the Gaza Strip

[2] A dire humanitarian crisis, with reports of children suffering from a serious epidemic of gastroenteritis due to the lack of clean water, led to concerns amongst health officials and aid organizations.

[12] Since 2007, Israel had implemented a strict land and sea blockade that had prevented items such as food and medicine from moving into the Gaza Strip, with the health system struggling before the war.

[13] Ahmed al-Fara, the head of pediatrics at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, stated due to the lack of water during the war, he was witnessing the "most serious epidemic of gastroenteritis" among children he had ever seen.

[27] In August 2024, following the outbreak of a polio epidemic in Gaza, the World Health Organization launched a vaccination drive, inoculating around a quarter of children under age 10 by the third day of its campaign.

"[35] A 5-year-old whose entire immediate family was killed by an Israeli airstrike while evacuating to Rafah, was described as being starkly different by his grandmother, he was reportedly in shock, does not talk much, and was scared of any sounds.

"[40] In July 2024, Julia Wendt, the emergency child protection coordinator with the International Rescue Committee, stated children in Gaza were suffering from nightmares and bedwetting due to the mental toll of the war.

[59] In March 2024, 10 children died at Kamal Adwan Hospital from dehydration and malnutrition, leading UNICEF to state, "Now, the child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved".

Following the commencement of Israel's aggressive actions in Gaza on October 7, there has been a noticeable surge in detentions - with over 450 children being taken into custody at various points, as stated by the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

[108] In October 2024, The New York Times reported compiled testimony from 44 doctors, nurses, and paramedics who treated multiple cases of preteen children with gunshot wounds to the head or chest in Gaza.

Inquiries sent to the IDF regarding the experiences of these health care workers received a statement from a spokesperson that did not directly confirm whether investigations into the shootings of preteen children had been conducted or if any soldiers faced disciplinary action for firing at them.

[109] In response to claims alleging that the report was based on "fabricated evidence", The New York Times issued a statement defending the integrity of the piece, emphasizing that it had undergone rigorous editing and verification, including consultations with experts and the use of supporting photographs, which they deemed "too horrific for publication.

This was echoed by UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who recounted seeing a child who had been stuck in a vehicle at an Israeli military checkpoint for days due to delays, with a wound that had started to decompose.

[153] On 9 February, Catherine Russell stated, "UNICEF is urgently calling on the parties to refrain from military escalation in Rafah Governate in Gaza where over 600,000 children and their families have been displaced – many of them more than once.

Many families and officials involved in Gaza have described a difficult process with damage to transportation avenues and communication networks causing many to miss crossing or pick-up times, while others were not allowed to evacuate with their children.

[156] After repeated airstrike damage and lack of fuel at least two dozen premature babies were evacuated out of Gaza hospitals to Egypt to continue the specialized care they needed.

According to Bahaeldeen Ghalayini, the obstetrician and gynaecologist who founded the clinic, the corner of the building was hit by a single shell, destroying the ground floor embryology lab; he does not know whether the strike was intentional or not.

[171] On 18 January 2024, Natalia Kanem, the executive director of the UN Population Fund, spoke at the World Economic Forum at Davos, stating the situation was the "worst nightmare" the UNPF representative had ever witnessed, as there were 180 women giving birth daily, sometimes on the streets of Gaza, as the territory's health system collapsed.

[184] According to a UNICEF State of Palestine Humanitarian Situation report, from early March 2024 at least 5,500 pregnant women do not have access to pre or post natal check ups due to the continued airstrike and lack of safe shelter.

[59] Doctors at the Al-Helal Al Emirati Hospital reported "chaos and suffering" due to the large influx of displaced people arriving to deliver their babies.

[185] In late October, Gaza's premature babies faced a critical situation as Medical Aid for Palestinians and UNICEF warned that 130 infants were at risk of death due to a hospital fuel shortage caused by Israel's siege.

[193][194] Evacuations eventually occurred, facilitated by the Palestinian Red Crescent, World Health Organization, and UNOCHA, with 31 premature babies moved to southern Gaza, with most then to Egypt.

[202][203] In mid-December, a military siege on Kamal Adwan Hospital worsened the situation, as IDF soldiers reportedly prevented staff from supporting 12 babies in intensive care.

[230] According to a Haaretz investigation based on many Israeli soldiers' testimony, Palestinian teenagers, adults, and occasionally elderly men are regularly used as human shields to explore the tunnel network in the Gaza Strip.

These shawashim are dressed up, apart from sandshoes, to look like Israeli soldiers, handcuffed, blindfolded and, with a video camera attached to their bodies, sent into houses where Hamas combatants are suspected to hide, or into tunnels that might be booby-trapped.

[232] An October 2024 investigation by CNN found that while the scale and scope of the practice was unknown, testimony from civilians and an Israeli soldier showed Israel's use of Palestinians as human shields was widespread across the Gaza Strip.

"[252] On 5 March, UNICEF called the war on Gaza "a test of human conscience" and stated that the lack of humanitarian aid in the north was worsening children's health situation.

"[254] In an open letter to the United Kingdom government the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) called the perceived systematic targeting of universities, schools, laboratories and libraries as a component of a genocidal strategy aimed at destroying the Palestinian educations system in Gaza.

[259] In June 2024, the United Nations stated that grave violations against children in conflict zones had increased 155 percent globally, due especially to explosive weapons used in the Gaza Strip.

[261] In October 2024, members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory condemned child deaths in Gaza, stating, "Kids aren't terrorists.

[268] In the Los Angeles Review of Books, historian Alma Igra wrote, "The children of Gaza will forever be marked by the duration of time they spent in 'hunger-time,' when their growth was arrested by starvation, their minds marred by trauma.