The situation in the Gaza Strip remains extremely critical, especially the fate of thousands of Palestinian children. The escalation of violence that was unleashed last October with the attack on southern Israel imposed a total blockade on the strip, preventing the entry and exit of people, materials and supplies. With the war ongoing, more than 16,000 minors were at risk of not receiving their routine vaccinations. However, since October 21, trucks with humanitarian aid have been allowed to enter, allowing UNICEF to supply vaccines that would not otherwise reach Gaza.
The war between Palestine and Israel disrupted health services, leaving diseases such as measles and polio to plague children in Gaza. UNICEF and its partners continue their efforts to protect these children from preventable diseases and provided 962,550 doses of essential vaccines, including measles, pneumonia and polio. The vaccines arrived in December 2023 and are a lifesaver for children. But the situation is desperate.
“We are administering the hepatitis B vaccine to one-week-old babies. Every day we receive between 200 and 250 children who urgently need to be vaccinated, a significant number given the serious shortages we face in these difficult conditions,” explains Samaheer, a nurse who works tirelessly in the territory. The entire healthcare system is in danger in the Gaza Strip, where two-thirds of hospitals are not functioning. UNICEF, which vaccinated almost half of children under 5 years of age worldwide in 2022, continues to provide supplies and multi-sector interventions to prevent and respond to the growing number of diseases such as diarrhea and respiratory diseases, by scaling up of Primary Health Care interventions.
Ensuring access to safe water, food, medical care and other essential supplies is a huge challenge due to the lack of fuel. Hospitals are running out of medicine and electricity, while health needs increase due to intense bombing. Some families consume unsafe water and live in overcrowded conditions, causing outbreaks of contagious diseases and putting their lives at risk. 152,000 cases of diarrhea and numerous cases of chickenpox or jaundice have already been detected.
The intensification of violence has already caused the death of at least 25,700 people in the Gaza Strip – 70% of them women and children – and more than 63,740 people have been injured, of which 10,787 are minors. The consequences of the conflict are being catastrophic for the little ones.
To those who have already lost their lives or been injured, there are thousands of children whose whereabouts are unknown, although it is estimated that the majority will be injured or dead under collapsed buildings. Furthermore, of the 1.7 million people who have been forced to move from the north to the south, half are children. Many of them have tried to move, on several occasions, always in search of a safe place, but currently nowhere can be safe in Gaza.
