Gaza conflict

Outraged by the escalating human cost of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in January 2009, 183,380 people texted the word ‘ceasefire’ to support our Enough is Enough campaign. This response took place in the space of less than a week — that’s a text every second.

Read blogs written by our staff in Gaza during the conflict.

One year on from the conflict, children were still traumatised by their experiences. 

The situation 16 months on

• Thousands of children are living in cramped conditions in makeshift shelters or in the homes of relatives.
• Children are attending overcrowded schools leading to a decline in the quality of education.
• Many of Gaza's children have not seen a doctor or nurse in the past year, according to our research.
• More than half of families don't have regular access to clean water, increasing the likelihood of illness among young children.

To carry out our work, we're asking for full and unfettered access into and out of Gaza. The blockade has to end in order to people to recover and rebuild their lives.

What we’re doing

• In Gaza, we’re supporting children and their families as they struggle to recover from the conflict. We're providing water filters, tanks and desalination units to kingergartens, schools and community centres and training on the importance of general hygiene.  
• We’re working with parents so they can become the ‘first teachers’ to their children in a child’s crucial early years. We’re also running a mobile library in Gaza so that children can improve their reading skills and have access to books – a key educational tool that would otherwise be unavailable for many children in Gaza. 
• Across the OPT we’re working to protect children from violence and forced displacement in the OPT. We're reducing violence in schools and in the wider community by providing training on children’s rights and alternatives to corporal punishment.
• We’re also helping people living away from their homes or in communities at risk of being displaced meet their basic needs by providing access to water, healthcare and education. We’re also helping people repair their homes, setting up safe play areas for children, and upgrading clinics.

Find out more about our work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Daily life in Gaza

Mothers wait for their children to be treated for malnutrition in Ard El Ensan clinic in Gaza. There has been an increase in both malnutrition and anaemia since the Gazan blockade, which has reduced the amount of fresh produce coming in to the area. Photo credit: Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum photos for Save the Children.

The photographer Paolo Pellegrin spent two weeks among the children of the Gaza Strip documenting their perilous lives in the shadow of the Israeli border.

Look at Paolo Pellegrin's photo diary of daily life.