The ongoing war in Gaza continues to have a devastating impact on the lives of Palestinians, and in particular children. Over 17,000 children in Gaza have lost parental care since the start of the war. More children have been killed in this current period of violent conflict in Gaza, than by any conflict worldwide in four years.
A whole generation of children are growing up at serious risk of experiencing severe trauma, which can have a life-long impact on their mental and physical health – those without parental care are at even greater risk.
The UK government to date has been woefully inadequate in acting to protect civilians in Gaza, including children in the most vulnerable situations, who are caught up in this conflict.
The new UK government must do more to protect the lives and fundamental rights of all civilians and especially children. To this end, the following should be prioritised:
Protection and provision of basic services to children without parental care and children at risk of losing parental care
Thousands of children caught-up in the crossfire or being indiscriminately targeted are experiencing unprecedented levels of trauma. The loss and trauma from this conflict is taking a heavy toll on their mental health and well-being, with long-term effects on their development. Children who lose parental care are particularly vulnerable as they are not guaranteed the love and support needed to help them develop resilience and overcome traumatic experiences.
In international humanitarian law, children are provided with the same rights to protection as adult civilians; however, due to their special protection, food, medical and safety needs, they are afforded additional special protection.
As a matter of urgency, adequate referral and family tracing mechanisms for children who have lost parental care in Gaza should be in place and embedded into humanitarian programmes and coordination structures.
Protection of civilians and respect for International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law
In the absence of a permanent end to the conflict, we call on parties to agree on an unconditional and long-lasting ceasefire that will allow for adequate and desperately needed aid to reach those in need. Only a durable end to violence and destruction will stop the suffering of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
The protection of civilians and alleviation of human suffering should be the core priority of the international community, with pressure applied on parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international law. This means ensuring civilians and civilian infrastructure is not targeted.
The rights of children — as listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child — are being violated daily, including their right to life, survival and development, their right to education, their right to protection from abuse, violence or neglect, their right to health care and medical assistance, and their right to nutrition. These rights must be protected under international law.
Ongoing grave violations of children’s rights in the conflict include being abducted, killed or maimed; sexual violence against children; attacks against schools and hospitals; and denial of humanitarian assistance. We call for the immediate end to these violations being committed against children.
With urgency, all hostages, especially children, should be safely released to their families.
Parties should refrain from forcibly displacing civilian populations, in line with their obligation under international law, and should guarantee safe passage for civilians inside the Gaza strip. Powerholders should also allow safe passage, for civilians to leave Gaza, especially for medical treatment and family reunification, with their rights to return guaranteed and upheld.
Increase in principled aid delivery and humanitarian access
Continued hostilities and the lack of humanitarian access to and inside Gaza are impeding the aid response and preventing necessary lifesaving assistance from reaching hundreds of thousands of Gazans. We ask for diplomatic pressure to be put on powerholders to significantly increase the flow of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and enable adequate humanitarian programmes to run unhindered across Gaza.
Specific attention should be given to the needs of vulnerable groups, including but not limited to, unaccompanied minors and children who have lost parental care. Overall, protection activities, including child protection, should be prioritised as key lifesaving components in this emergency.
The UK should reverse the suspension of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and commit to increased humanitarian funding for Gaza.
Provision of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
With millions of children and adults impacted by the conflict, we urge the UK government to prioritise the provision of mental health and psychosocial support through funding earmarked for emergency relief and in humanitarian programming on the ground.
We call for additional new funding to be committed for mental health and psychosocial support for both adults and children in the immediate and long term. While the overall mental health toll of this conflict is recognised, this response component continues to be overlooked during and after emergencies against other pressing needs by donors.