ABOUT 130,000 children aged under 10 have been trapped for 50 days in areas in northern Gaza that are almost entirely inaccessible to aid workers, and are not receiving food or medical supplies despite warnings of famine, Save the Children warned yesterday.
Children living in North Gaza and Gaza governorates have been almost completely cut off from supplies of food, water, and medicine since 6th October 2024 when Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone.
The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) says that famine is either imminent or already occurring in the area.
The UN also warned nearly a month ago that the entire population of North Gaza governorate was at risk of dying, yet attempts by aid groups to access the area have been repeatedly denied by Israeli forces.
Save the Children has been unable to access northern Gaza to deliver food parcels for 5,000 families, along with 725 hygiene kits and other aid supplies, for over seven weeks.
Before the area was closed off, Save the Children worked through local partners to reach thousands of children in need, distributing over 1,000 food parcels and 600 hygiene kits, and reaching around 15,000 children and families in northern Gaza with psychosocial support, recreational activities, and case management.
The 5,000 food parcels have consequently been re-directed to and delivered in southern Gaza where the needs are still great, though not as critical.
Medical supplies to the area have also stopped and about 10,000 children in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun were not reached at all by the recent polio vaccine campaign.
About 113,000 children in northern Gaza received one or both polio vaccinations between September and November 2024, about 88% of the target under-10 child population.
Jeremy Stoner, Regional Director of Save the Children, said: ‘The situation in northern Gaza is not fit for human survival and yet we know there are about 130,000 children under 10 trapped in those conditions, not to mention the thousands of older children and their families.
‘The war in Gaza is a war on children. There is no plainer way to illustrate this than to look at the people who make up the death figures – over 4-in-every-10 people verified killed in Gaza is a child.
‘Of these children, most are 5-9-year-olds. These are children who should be learning to read and ride bikes. They should not be ending up in mortuaries.
‘Humanitarian aid to Gaza has hit an all-time low with the appalling situation in northern Gaza the tip of a terrible iceberg. Safe humanitarian access must be granted immediately to allow food, water, winter supplies and medical assistance to reach those who are trapped in the death zone in the north.
‘The international community must step up and make sure that happens, in line with their obligations. Without access and a ceasefire, we are condemning children to perish in hell on earth.’
The UN Human Rights Office has said the way hostilities have been conducted could cause ‘the potential destruction of the Palestinian population’ in Gaza’s northernmost governorate, raising particular concerns over the entry of essential supplies.