LONDON (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The organization “Save the Children” reported that approximately 130,000 children under the age of ten have been trapped for 50 days in northern Gaza without food or medical supplies.
According to the organization, food, water, and medicine supplies for the children living in northern Gaza and the Gaza governorates have been almost completely cut off since October 6, when Israeli forces declared the area a “closed military zone.”
The organization mentioned that the “Famine Review Committee,” an independent body, has confirmed that famine in these areas is “either imminent or likely to occur.”
The United Nations has also warned for nearly a month that the entire population of northern Gaza is “at risk of death,” yet, according to the organization, Israeli forces have “repeatedly refused” relief groups’ attempts to access the area.
The organization complained that it has been unable to reach northern Gaza to deliver food parcels to 5,000 families, along with 725 hygiene kits and other supplies, for the past seven weeks.
They stated that medical supplies to the area have ceased, and “the recent polio vaccination campaign did not reach about 10,000 children in Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun at all.”
The organization pointed out that many families in northern Gaza are trapped because they cannot escape, either due to elderly or disabled members, or because of a lack of alternative options in other parts of Gaza.
Parents in northern Gaza told “Save the Children” that they feel “suffocated,” with “no energy left in our bodies.”
“Save the Children” pointed out that children are bearing the brunt of the war in Gaza. According to the United Nations, about 44% of the casualties are children.
The organization quoted Ruba, a mother of two living in northern Gaza, as saying, “I am trapped with my children under relentless bombs, rockets, and gunfire, with nowhere to escape. My mother is paralyzed, and I cannot leave her behind. My brother was killed, and my husband was captured; I don’t know if he is alive. Our home was destroyed above our heads, and we survived by a miracle.”
She adds, “We have been without food, no clean water, and live in constant fear. My children have developed rashes, and my daughter is bleeding, but there is no medicine, no help, and I cannot do anything at all.”
Jeremy Stoner, the regional director for “Save the Children,” said that the situation in northern Gaza is “not suitable for human life,” yet “we know that there are about 130,000 children under the age of ten trapped in these conditions,” emphasizing that “the war in Gaza is a war on children.”
