DaysofPal- About 130,000 children aged under 10 have been trapped for 50 days in areas in northern Gaza that are almost entirely inaccessible to aid workers and not receiving food or medical supplies despite warnings of famine, Save the Children said.
Since October 6, 2024, children in North Gaza and Gaza governorates have been nearly entirely cut off from food, water, and medicine after Israeli forces declared the region a closed military zone.
The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) has warned that famine is either imminent or may already be happening in the area.
The UN issued a warning almost a month ago that all residents of the North Gaza governorate were in danger of dying, but Israeli forces have repeatedly prevented aid organizations from entering the region.
For over seven weeks, Save the Children has been unable to deliver food parcels for 5,000 families, along with 725 hygiene kits and other aid supplies, to northern Gaza.
Prior to the area’s closure, Save the Children worked with local partners to provide support to thousands of children, distributing over 1,000 food parcels, 600 hygiene kits, and offering psychosocial support, recreational activities, and case management to around 15,000 children and families in northern Gaza. As a result, the 5,000 food parcels have been redirected to southern Gaza, where the needs remain significant, though less critical.
Medical supplies have halted, and around 10,000 children in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun missed the recent polio vaccination campaign. Between September and November 2024, 113,000 children in northern Gaza received the vaccine, covering 88% of the under-10 population. Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few operational hospitals in the area, continues to be attacked by Israeli forces, depleting medical supplies.
Many families in northern Gaza are trapped due to elderly or disabled relatives and limited escape options. Parents have expressed feeling “suffocated” and exhausted. Children are suffering the most, with the UN reporting that 44% of those killed by Israeli forces are children, primarily between the ages of 5 and 9.
In northern Gaza, Ruba, a mother of two, explained her terrifying circumstances: “We are stuck under continuous bombings, with nowhere to run. My mother is paralyzed, and I can’t leave her. My brother was killed, my husband is missing, and our home was destroyed. We survived by miracle.
With no food, clean water, or help, both my children have rashes, and my daughter is bleeding. There’s no medicine, and I can’t do anything. They cry, asking why we can’t leave, where their father is, and why we can’t go back to a normal life.”
The situation in northern Gaza is “inhospitable for human life,” according to Jeremy Stoner, regional director for Save the Children, but “about 130,000 children under ten are trapped in these circumstances,” emphasizing that “the war in Gaza is a war on children.”
Stoner urged the international community to take action and fulfill its obligations, stating, “Without access and a ceasefire, we are condemning children to die in a hell on earth.”
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