State of Palestine Appeal

The conflict that escalated on 7 October 2023 has caused devastating humanitarian consequences for children across the State of Palestine and Israel. 

In the Gaza Strip, more than 13,000 children had reportedly been killed as of 9 November 2024, with many more injured or trapped under rubble. Protection risks are at extreme levels and ever-increasing, including the risk of child separation, with 17,000 children estimated to be separated from their families or unaccompanied. More than 65 displacement orders have been issued by Israeli forces, affecting 84 per cent of the Gaza Strip and displacing more than 1.9 million people.

The extensive damage to water, sanitation and waste management infrastructure, the lack of critical resources to operate and maintain the remaining infrastructure and the resulting poor hygiene conditions are leaving almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip prone to public health risks.

Food insecurity has worsened and, coupled with limited access to health and WASH services, exposes 322,000 children under age 5 to the risk of malnutrition, with 60,000 requiring treatment for wasting. 

The near collapse of Gaza's public services has triggered a severe health crisis. The destruction of health facilities, coupled with overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, has led to outbreaks of diarrhoea, hepatitis A and acute respiratory infections, and the re-emergence of poliovirus type 2 after being eradicated for 25 years, putting young children at particular risk. 

Attacks on schools – many serving as shelters for internally displaced people – have severely impacted the resumption of learning, leaving nearly 660,000 children out of school and potentially setting back their education by five years.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, escalating violence, settler attacks, militarized law enforcement operations and movement restrictions have crippled essential services. Around 1 million people require water and sanitation services and 830,000 require health care, including pregnant women and newborns. Protection concerns, attacks on education and teacher salary cuts have deepened the education crisis, affecting at least 133,000 students. Violence and grave violations against children, displacement and economic hardship have intensified mental health and protection needs for children across the region.   

In Israel, approximately 1,200 people were killed on 7 October 2023 and in its immediate aftermath, including 37 children. Out of 255 people taken hostage, 154 people, including 34 children, have been released, and there is limited information about the two children remaining in captivity. The psychological impact of the conflict on Israeli children cannot be overlooked.

The conflict has led to widespread displacement, the destruction of critical infrastructure and severe shortages of food, water, health care and education. The situation continues to have a devastating impact on the physical and mental well-being of children and their communities. Without a cessation of hostilities, increased accessibility and scaled-up humanitarian interventions focusing on saving lives, the conditions of children and their families are expected to worsen.

UNICEF's priorities across the State of Palestine focus on addressing urgent needs in WASH, health, nutrition, education, child protection and social protection while supporting system strengthening and preparedness. Recognizing the distinct needs of vulnerable groups, UNICEF aims to provide essential life-saving services and social and behaviour change interventions with particular attention to disability, age and gender considerations. 

Across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, UNICEF focuses on repairing, operating and maintaining water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and services. This includes solid waste management, infection prevention, promoting hygiene practices and improving WASH facilities in health-care and educational settings.

Health-care responses include enhancing primary-level care through mobile clinics while improving secondary care, focusing on specialized maternal and neonatal care, immunization and rehabilitation for children with impairments, including amputees. 

In the Gaza Strip, UNICEF focuses on prevention, early detection and treatment of wasting, including provision of complementary food, supplements, counselling and social and behaviour change. In the West Bank, UNICEF supports community health services through capacity-building initiatives, including on nutrition and pre-positioning supplies. 

For education, UNICEF engages communities in resuming learning while establishing learning centres. Teachers and students benefit from essential materials and are supported with social and emotional learning activities, and UNICEF also supports catch-up education programmes and digital learning to mitigate learning loss. Adolescent girls receive a combination protection, education and hygiene intervention.

Child protection interventions are tailored to the unique impact of conflict and grave violations against children, focusing on supporting affected families and at-risk children while improving case management and access to legal assistance. UNICEF is scaling up emergency child protection and community-based protection and mental health and psychosocial support services using creative, mobile and remote modalities. 

Multipurpose cash assistance will provide vulnerable households with several rounds of payments to ensure their basic needs are met, including top-up payments for families with pregnant and breastfeeding women and female-headed households. The programme will expand to provide additional front-line workers with incentive payments to ensure continuity of services. 

UNICEF focuses on preventing exploitation and sexual abuse and strengthening survivor assistance by enhancing grassroots initiatives and by expanding feedback mechanisms for people to share their concerns about UNICEF programmes. Women-led and girl-centred groups and volunteers provide inputs to ensure accountability to affected populations. 

UNICEF remains active within the United Nations and Humanitarian Country Teams, leading the WASH and nutrition clusters and Child Protection Area of Responsibility while co-leading the Education Cluster. 

In the event of ceasefires and increased access, UNICEF will rapidly scale up its interventions, aiming to further strengthen and build the resilience of systems while advocating for sustained humanitarian access.