The situation in the Gaza Strip can only be described as catastrophic and horrific. Food is scarce and more and more children are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition. As clean water is also in short supply, the risk of dehydration, severe diarrhoea and other illnesses is increasing.

The children urgently need our support: over one million are dependent on humanitarian aid! UNICEF is continuing to deliver life-saving aid to the Gaza Strip and, if the security situation allows, even to the north.

Famine is a real danger

Children are trapped in a deadly cycle: Malnutrition, lack of water and infections. Breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women are also hard hit. The UNICEF teams on the ground are doing everything they can to provide them with therapeutic food such as peanut paste, speciality milk or nutritional supplements.

Precarious medical care

But other relief supplies such as first aid kits, medicines and incubators for babies are also helping to ensure the survival of children. This is because many hospitals and healthcare facilities have been destroyed or damaged. Some operations are being carried out without anaesthetic, like that of four-year-old Ghazal.