DaysofPal – Walking the shattered streets of Gaza City with two thermoses slung across his shoulders, 15-year-old Mohammed Ashour calls out to passing residents, hoping to sell enough cups of coffee to feed his family for the day.
At an age when he should be in school, Mohammed has instead become the breadwinner. His father was killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, leaving the teenager responsible for supporting his mother and siblings.
“This burden isn’t mine to carry,” he says. “Carrying thermoses, cups, going back and forth… it’s too much. I’m exhausted, but I have to do it to help my siblings.”
Mohammed is one of thousands of Palestinian children thrust into the workforce as the war grinds on. In a devastated economy with mass unemployment and widespread displacement, children, some as young as eight, are collecting scrap metal, selling small items on the streets, or doing odd jobs in place of lost parents.
Gaza’s Ministry of Social Development estimates that at least 39,000 children have lost one or both parents, and aid agencies warn that the number of child labor cases has surged to unprecedented levels.
Mohammed’s mother, Atad Ashour, says she knows her son should be in class, not on the streets. But after her husband was killed, the family had no income and no options.
“He’s still a child, but he’s carrying a responsibility that isn’t his,” she says. “The circumstances pushed us into this.”
Children Shoulder Adult Responsibilities
Humanitarian agencies say the destruction of family structures, combined with severe shortages of food, employment, and aid, has pushed children deeper into roles they were never meant to hold.
“We’re seeing more children scavenging through waste, collecting firewood or metal to sell, and children selling coffee,” said UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram. She said the organisation is attempting to curb these “negative coping mechanisms” through cash assistance to families and awareness about the dangers of child labor.
Rachel Cummings, Gaza humanitarian director for Save the Children, said the collapse of family networks has added another layer of hardship.
“The whole family structure has been disrupted in Gaza, and children are very vulnerable,” she said. “This very precarious situation is really taking its toll.”
A Generation Out of School
The scale of the crisis is vast. Nearly half of Gaza’s population is under 18, and the education system has been decimated.
More than 660,000 children are out of school, with classrooms destroyed, teachers displaced, and families unable to prioritize education amid the fight for survival. Save the Children warns that 132,000 children are at risk of acute malnutrition, adding to the long-term consequences of the conflict.
Reporting from Gaza City, local journalists describe children taking on duties once handled by their parents, cooking, collecting wood, and caring for younger siblings or elderly relatives.
“They were supposed to be in school, playing with their friends,” one reporter said. “The war’s toll on Palestinian children has been massive.”
“If my father were alive…”
As the sun sets over Gaza City, Mohammed walks home after another exhausting day, passing a school he once attended. He pauses to watch other children slipping through the gates.
“If my father were alive,” he says quietly, “you would find me at home going to school.”
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