The State of Palestine now faces one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies, with 1.7 million children requiring urgent assistance out of 3.3 million people in desperate need. The crisis has displaced nearly 2 million Palestinians, approximately 59% of those requiring aid, with many families forced to flee multiple times.
Israel controls and/or has destroyed all the primary routes that could deliver food to the Palestinian territory.
Since hostilities resumed in March 2025 following the breakdown of a temporary ceasefire, conditions have deteriorated catastrophically. Over 56,600 Palestinians, including at least 17,121 children and 10,328 women, have been reported killed. The violence has intensified dramatically, with 6,315 fatalities, including 1,564 children, recorded since the ceasefire ended on March 18, 2025.
Gaza faces an unprecedented nutritional emergency that threatens an entire rates fluctuated dramatically during the reporting period, dropping to 2.7% in February 2025 during the ceasefire but rising again after hostilities resumed**. Between January and June 2025, at least 19,089 children aged 6 to 59 months were admitted for acute malnutrition treatment—averaging over 100 children daily.
Recent reports from humanitarian organizations indicate the crisis has escalated alarmingly. At least 115 individuals have died from malnutrition-related causes, 48 in three weeks time.
Medical professionals report record levels of severe malnutrition among children. At Patient’s Friends Hospital in Gaza City, many infants receiving care lack the energy to cry and lie listlessly in their mothers’ arms. Dr. Zaher Sahloul of MedGlobal reported that 19 children were recently admitted with severe acute malnutrition, a number the organization had never seen before, with five children dying over 72 hours.
Access to clean water has become critically limited across Gaza. Over 75% of households reported declining access to water, with per capita availability below half the minimum humanitarian standard of 15 liters per person per day. The water crisis has been exacerbated by systematic damage to infrastructure, with more than 85% of water and sanitation facilities completely or partially out of service.
The collapse of water systems has contributed to a surge in waterborne diseases, with diarrhea cases doubling to 59,000 in the first quarter of 2025, with 53% affecting children under five.
Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure has been systematically dismantled through sustained attacks and supply blockades. Only 2,000 hospital beds remain operational for over 2 million people.
The situation has worsened dramatically since hostilities resumed, with none of Gaza’s 38 hospitals fully operational by the end of June 2025.
The targeting of healthcare facilities has been relentless, with at least 734 attacks on health facilities recorded, affecting 125 health facilities and damaging 34 hospitals and 188 ambulances. This systematic destruction has left the population with severely limited access to life-saving medical care, with bed capacity reduced from 3,500 to 1,685—a 53% reduction.
Healthcare workers face deadly conditions, with 479 humanitarian aid workers reported killed since October 2023.
Additonally, the educational crisis represents one of the most severe assaults on children’s futures in modern history. With 95% of schools damaged or destroyed, 658,000 children have been out of school for nearly two years.
The systematic targeting of educational infrastructure has prompted UN experts to describe the situation as “scholasticide,” the deliberate destruction of a society’s educational capacity. Over 90% of school and university buildings in Gaza have sustained damage, with 88.5% requiring complete reconstruction or major rehabilitation.
West Bank Violence Escalates Dramatically
The humanitarian crisis extends beyond Gaza into the occupied West Bank, where violence against Palestinian children has reached alarming levels. Child fatalities in the West Bank have increased by 180% since October 2023, with 170 children killed—the highest number in decades.
Between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2025, 213 Palestinian children were killed in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, compared with 78 in the 21 months preceding—an increase of 173%. The violence includes systematic attacks by Israeli settlers, with over 350 Palestinians injured by settlers in the first half of 2025, including at least 22 children.
The military operation “Iron Wall,” launched on January 21, 2025, has caused the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with around 40,000 people displaced, including 14,241 children.
