Six months on – all eyes are on Gaza while children’s plight remains in the shadows
- As we mark six months since the horrific attacks of 7th October, we continue to pray for lasting peace across the Middle East region.
- The entire population in the Gaza Strip (2.23 million) is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.11 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions over the next three months.
- More than half a million children living in occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)[i] are at risk of mental health issues due to the extreme exposure to conflict and violence they have witnessed and experienced.
- 1.3 million children living in the West Bank are at risk falling behind in their studies as one in every five schools (18%) reported at least one violent incident– even during learning hours when students were present – in the week prior to the assessment.
- Two out of three villages supported by World Vision (65%) had been affected by more than one episode of violence a week in the West Bank by the end of January.
- Four out of five (79%) of World Vision-supported villages in the West Bank reported they cannot regularly access hospitals, ambulances are routinely denied movement through checkpoints, and individuals seeking care are denied passage through checkpoints to reach health-care facilities with documented cases of loss of life due to access restrictions.
- Two-thirds of Lebanon’s population residing within 10 kilometres of the southern border have now been displaced. Most homes within this area have been severely damaged and agricultural lands contaminated and 60,000 children’s educations have been disrupted due to the closure of at least 50 schools. Girls and boys across southern Lebanon, including 3,000 children in World Vision-supported villages, are suffering from severe psychological distress due to the intensifying airstrikes and bombings.
Sunday, 7 April – More than a million children will suffer life-long consequences on their mental and physical health unless an immediate end to the hostilities can be reached in the conflict in Gaza, warns humanitarian agency World Vision. Less than three weeks after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an independent and apolitical mechanism, confirmed a steep rise in child deaths from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip on 18 March, the world watches as another avoidable marker in the Middle East crisis is passed – six months since the horrific attacks of 7th October.
The devastating challenges facing children right across the Middle East region continue to worsen, with girls and boys bearing the brunt of the impact.
Andrew Morley, World Vision International President and CEO, said: “Our hearts break for children right across the Middle East region whose lives are shattered by six months of unimaginable pain, violence, and separation of both hostage families and families within Gaza. Peace is surely within reach – yet, while this conflict rages on, vulnerable girls and boys continue to pay the ultimate price.
“The toll on their mental and physical health, and their education, is utterly devastating and will affect an entire generation unless leaders step up to pursue an immediate and lasting peace. This continues to be our enduring hope and prayer.”
“We must make our call for a new tide of understanding, healing, and peace. Once the weapons are silenced, we all need to raise our voices to ensure children affected by this conflict can continue to reach their God-given potential in life.”
Eleanor Monbiot, World Vision, Regional Leader, Middle East Eastern Europe said: “A generation of children’s futures hang in the balance and their entire lives will be shaped by this crisis. Within the space of six months their lives have drastically changed; they have witnessed violence and death, been displaced, suffered from the most catastrophic levels of hunger, been unable to access basic health care, coped with mental health and emotional issues, and had their access to education compromised or even entirely cut-off.”
Yet, even if the conflict ended today and humanitarian access is granted, the risk of famine will not disappear for Gazan children. It will be too late for many families who are already going multiple days and nights without food and the numerous children suffering from acute malnutrition, if they do not immediately start receiving lifesaving food assistance and access to basic services. Beyond this, children in Gaza and across the region are at risk of never knowing a normal childhood if they continue enduring the indirect impacts of the hostilities, displacement and movement restrictions, such as acute hunger and preventable health issues as well as increased stress and other mental and emotional health issues.
“This milestone comes following the tragic killing of seven members of the World Central Kitchen team in a convoy delivering essential food aid to starving girls, boys, women, and men in Gaza, bringing the total of humanitarian workers killed in the occupied Palestinian territories since the beginning of the conflict to at least 196. What is happening is a humanitarian tragedy that has already had terrible consequences for children in particular, who have been largely overlooked in this crisis. The safety, security, and well-being of all civilians, especially children, must be the priority for all parties. Children should not be victims of a conflict that is no fault of their own. They have a legal right to protection. Hostages need to be reunited with their families. All international actors and those directly involved in the conflict must guarantee the protection of innocent children,” Monbiot adds.
Time is running out if we are going to save the lives of children who are living in the shadow of this crisis. Just one day of this inconceivable pain, let alone 180 days, is too long for any child to endure such unprecedented suffering. We continue to pray for lasting peace, as well as the end of all restrictions that are preventing food and lifesaving aid to reach the civilian population, especially children, their families and vulnerable groups.
ENDS
Notes to editor:
World Vision delivers critical humanitarian assistance to vulnerable children and their families in the West Bank and across the region, including lifesaving in-kind food and cash and voucher assistance; access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene needs; psychosocial support to affected children and their families; and reducing/mitigating predictable humanitarian impacts from negatively affecting at-risk populations through anticipatory action and resilience building.
Through World Vision’s Global Hunger Response and ENOUGH campaign, the organisation is responding to the immediate needs of the most vulnerable girls, boys, and their families who are experiencing acute hunger in 28 countries of highest alert where World Vision operates, highlighting the driving factors and impacts of hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity on children globally, and advocating to governments and donors to do more to prevent mass starvation.
For more information please contact: World Vision’s Middle East Crisis Response, Communications & Advocacy Senior Advisor, Micah Branaman, micah_branaman@wvi.org
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian and development organisation dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.
For more information, please visit www.wvi.org or follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @WorldVision
[i] 532,152 children – assuming a prevalence of 22.1% in long-term conflict-affected populations (based on 20+ years of military occupation and conflict) per The Lancet and using the figure of 2,407,930 (44.6% children out of 5.43 million estimated population, including child deaths in Gaza as of 26 March 2024 and West Bank as of 20 February 2024).