Children in the occupied Palestinian territory have experienced unimaginable hardship and relentless violence

The war in Gaza has exacted an unparalleled toll on children, inflicting potentially irreversible bodily and mental harm, with consequences that threaten not only their futures but the very fabric of Palestinian society for generations to come.

The "ceasefire" agreement in place remains fragile and has shown very little respite for civilians.

Children are meant to be off limits in war. Yet Israeli attacks continue to kill and injure Palestinian children, and humanitarian needs remain overwhelming.

Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza safely and at scale, and the current "ceasefire" agreement must become an immediate and definitive ceasefire.This is the only way to save lives in Gaza and end grave violations of children’s rights. There is no alternative.

Our Response

Children Helping Hands and our local partners continue to deliver lifesaving support to children and families across the occupied Palestinian territory despite continued access constraints, repeated displacement and a deteriorating humanitarian environment.

We are treating children who are malnourished after being intentionally starved, supporting those suffering severe psychological distress from the horrors of war and occupation, and caring for children injured by bullets, bombs and shrapnel.

In 2025, our teams and local partners worked tirelessly to provide lifesaving support to over 1.8 million people across Gaza, including over 950,000 children.

Despite enormous challenges, our commitment to children remains steadfast. We will not abandon our commitment to them.

Humanitarian assistance remains the key, if not the only, lifeline for families across Gaza. They need urgent protection and unimpeded humanitarian access to begin to recover from the scars of war.

We stand ready to scale up our response. We are ready to support the people of Gaza and must be allowed to do our jobs.

We are calling for:

• An immediate and definitive ceasefire.
• The lifting of the siege and full, safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access.
• The release of Palestinian children arbitrarily held in military detention.
• Accountability for all grave violations against children.

Lana's Story.

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 Children Helping Hands’ 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.