On Palestinian Children’s Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed a staggering toll: more than 39,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023—marking the largest orphan crisis in modern history. Among them, 17,000 children have lost both parents and now face life without protection, shelter, or care.
Children make up 43% of the Palestinian population—nearly 2.4 million individuals—yet they have endured the most of the genocide.
In Gaza alone, 47% of the population is under 18. Over 534 days of bombardment, more than 17,950 children were killed, including 274 infants born and buried under the rubble.
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At least 52 children died from starvation, 17 froze to death in displacement tents, and 876 infants under one year old perished.
Another 7,000 children were permanently disabled, many by internationally banned weapons.
Nearly 850 children underwent amputations. The collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system has left 7,700 newborns at risk of death due to lack of incubators, oxygen, and basic medicine.
The right to education has also been decimated. Israeli attacks destroyed 111 public schools and severely damaged 241 more, along with 89 UNRWA schools.
As a result, 700,000 students were denied access to education in the 2024–2025 academic year, and 39,000 students were unable to sit for their final exams.
Over 12,400 students and 519 teachers were killed, while more than 22,000 were injured. Two full academic years have been lost.
In the West Bank, the assault on education continues. Since October 2023, 90 students have been killed, 555 injured, and 301 arrested.
Illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers have stormed classrooms, detained students, and attacked children on their way to school. At least 100 schools have suspended operations since January 2025.
The crisis extends beyond the classroom. More than 1,055 Palestinian children have been abducted since October 7, 2023, many during night invasions, often beaten, blindfolded, and denied legal counsel.
As of March 2025, over 350 children remain imprisoned. These arrests violate international law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Famine now threatens the youngest survivors. Nearly 2 million people in Gaza face acute food insecurity, with 345,000 at risk of catastrophic hunger.
An estimated 60,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition, including 12,000 with severe cases that could lead to organ failure or death.
Malnutrition has also worsened bone deformities and delayed wound healing among injured children.
In July 2024, Gaza recorded its first polio outbreak in 25 years. Vaccination rates plummeted from 99% to 86% due to the collapse of the health system. Emergency campaigns reached over 600,000 children, but the risk remains high.
This is not a humanitarian crisis alone—it is a generational catastrophe. Gaza’s children are not collateral damage. They are the frontline victims of a genocide that has shattered every pillar of childhood: family, safety, health, and education.
