More than a million children in the Gaza Strip deprived of lifesaving aid for over one month - UNICEF
Aid continues to be blocked from entering, in breach of international humanitarian law and with dire repercussions for children
AMMAN, 5 April 2025 – The blockade of humanitarian aid is having terrible consequences for one million children in the Gaza Strip.
No aid has been allowed into the Gaza Strip since 2 March 2025 – representing the longest period of aid blockage since the start of the war – leading to shortages of food, safe water, shelter, and medical supplies. Without these essentials, malnutrition, diseases and other preventable conditions will likely surge, leading to an increase in preventable child deaths.
“UNICEF has thousands of pallets of aid waiting to enter the Gaza Strip,” said UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder. “Most of this aid is lifesaving – yet instead of saving lives, it is sitting in storage. It must be allowed in immediately. This is not a choice or charity; it is an obligation under international law.”
Children receiving malnutrition treatment are at serious risk. Twenty-one treatment centres —15 per cent of total outpatient facilities — have closed since 18 March 2025 due to displacement orders or bombardments. The 350 children relying on these sites now face worsening malnutrition, which can be life-threatening.
Complimentary food for infants—crucial for growth when food stocks are low—has run out in central and southern Gaza. Only enough ready-to-use infant formula (RUIF) remains for 400 children for a month. UNICEF estimates nearly 10,000 infants under six months require supplementary feeding so without the RUIF, families could be forced to use alternatives mixed with unsafe water.
In addition to nutrition services, UNICEF has been forced to scale back mental health and psychosocial support, mine education, and child protection case management due to ongoing hostilities and mass displacement.
During the cease-fire, UNICEF began repairing critical wells and water points to increase the availability of safe drinking water. With the ceasefire collapsed, many remain unrepaired or are at risk of further damage. In the north, families now rely entirely on water trucking. In central and southern areas, power cuts to the southern desalination plant have slashed water production by 85 per cent, and the main water pipeline has been damaged and cannot be accessed for repairs. Drinking water access for 1 million people, including 400,000 children, has plunged from 16 litres per person per day to just six. If fuel runs out in the coming weeks, this could drop below 4 liters, forcing families to use unsafe water, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, particularly among children.
The blockade has also prevented UNICEF from delivering inclusive recreational kits for 1,000 children with disabilities.
“For the sake of more than 1 million children in the Gaza Strip, we urge the Israeli authorities to ensure, at a minimum, people’s basic needs are met, in line with its obligations under international humanitarian law,” said Beigbeder. This includes their legal responsibility to ensure that families are supplied with the food, medical and other essential supplies they need to survive.”
Despite an extremely challenging situation, UNICEF and its partners are keeping a critical presence, delivering services like the resumption of neonatal health care services in the north and providing 21 respiratory machines to save the lives of 150 newborns; increased access to drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people; addressing malnutrition, with more than 7,800 children under 2-years-old reached with Ready to Use Complementary Food (RUCF) and more than 33,500 screened for acute malnutrition; prevention of family separation with more than 300 children reunited with their parents after having been separated by displacement orders and intense strikes.
UNICEF continues to call on parties to cease hostilities and reinstate the ceasefire. Humanitarian aid and commercial goods must be allowed to enter and move freely across the Gaza Strip. Sick and injured children must be evacuated for medical care. Civilians, including children and humanitarian workers, and the remaining essential infrastructure must be protected, and the hostages must be released.
UNICEF also urges states with influence to use their leverage over the parties to stop the conflict and ensure their respect for international law, including the special respect and protection due to children affected by armed conflict.
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