70 percent of children are having trouble sleeping and nearly one in five are withdrawn or silent
One in three young children went a full day without food in the past 24 hours
Most families with children under five, nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, reported visible signs of malnutrition
Only 1 per cent of households in Gaza are considered food secure
Amman, Jordan, September 24, 2025 — Children in Gaza continue to bear the brunt of war, following nearly two years of Israeli bombardment and the Israeli military’s latest ground operation in Gaza city. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) reports a 48 percent increase in child protection cases in recent weeks, with more children suffering serious injuries, most caused by shrapnel. Amputations resulting from these injuries are also rising — a devastating trend in a place that already holds the appalling record of the highest number of child amputees per capita worldwide, estimated at up to 4,000 since the war began.
Ciarán Donnelly, IRC’s Senior Vice President for Crisis, Response, Recovery and Development, said:
“These are children who have lost limbs, who wake up screaming from nightmares, who no longer feel safe even in their own families. Our teams are doing everything possible to support them, but without safe access and basic supplies, their recovery is at risk of stalling completely.”
The injuries are not only physical. Children who have lost multiple relatives are showing the deepest scars, struggling with anxiety, nightmares, sudden aggression, and fear of being left alone. IRC teams report that harmful coping is on the rise, with children resorting to begging, looting, or child labor, while others cling to positive outlets like drawing, play, or new friendships formed in group activities.
This trauma is being compounded by extreme hunger. The IRC assessment conducted last month among 469 displaced families in Gaza City, Deir El Balah, and parts of Khan Younis found that one in three children under three had not eaten anything in the 24 hours before the survey, while nearly three-quarters of families with young children reported visible signs of malnutrition. With just one percent of households considered food secure, families are skipping meals, reducing portions, and surviving with little or no access to protein or fresh produce. These findings, along with the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert echo IRC program data from July, which also showed high rates of malnutrition among children and among pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Even in this environment, IRC teams share stories of resilience and strength; a boy with mobility challenges who is carried to sessions by his mother and now uses drawing as a form of healing. A teenage girl who was once too anxious to leave her tent is slowly rejoining her peers in temporary learning spaces.
Faten Tarawa, IRC's Child Protection Manager for oPt, based in Gaza, adds:
“We see this strength every day in how eager children are to join these safe spaces, which reconnect them with the childhood they are missing during this crisis. When children are given safety, encouragement, and the chance to connect with others, they begin to heal — even in the harshest conditions.”
The IRC and its partners are delivering emergency social work, counseling, play and storytelling activities, and adapted sessions so children with injuries or disabilities are not excluded. Caregivers receive help to manage stress, and the most severely injured children are linked to medical care and rehabilitation services where possible.
Yet the gaps remain stark. Prosthetics and rehabilitation are scarce, trauma therapy is almost nonexistent, and supplies for children are unable to enter Gaza due to the near-total blockade of humanitarian supplies by the Government of Israel. At the same time, safe spaces are overcrowded, and education has nearly collapsed as malnutrition worsens.
The IRC is calling for rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access so children can receive the protection, food, and care they urgently need. Above all, children must be shielded from further harm, and aid operations must be allowed to continue without obstruction. An immediate ceasefire is needed to ensure the protection of Palestinians and the release of the remaining hostages.
Learn more about the crisis in Gaza