Toronto, March 20, 2025 – Over 100,000 children are trapped across northern Gaza after Israeli forces cut the area off from the rest of the Strip, with tens of thousands at imminent risk from military ground operations around the town of Beit Lahiya, Save the Children said.
This follows three days of Israeli airstrikes across Gaza that shattered an eight-week pause in hostilities and have caused the deadliest day for children in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, about 200 children have been killed since Tuesday.
The siege of northern Gaza is again blocking all life-saving supplies including food and medicines to the area with Save the Children unable to deliver water due for distribution through a partner to families there today. This comes after Israeli forces stopped all aid and commercial supplies entering the Strip since 2 March.
Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s Regional Director, said:
“Children are entitled to special protections under international law on top of those afforded to all civilians. But you would never know that from the absolute hellscape they have faced in the last three days. About 40% of the more than 500 Palestinians killed in 72 hours in Gaza this week were children and 30% were women.
“International humanitarian law was founded on the principles of civilian protection – namely, the legal obligations to distinguish between civilians and those taking part in hostilities, and to take steps to minimize civilian casualties when pursuing military targets. Airstrikes on dense civilian areas do not distinguish. Sieges do not distinguish. What we’re seeing instead is that no one is off limits, no one is safe.
“We were supposed to be delivering water to families in North Gaza through one of our partners today, providing a small step towards recovery. But again, devastating violence has brought the scale of ambition back to doing what we can to help keep our staff alive. We are incredibly concerned about our 53 staff who are stuck in the north. The Gaza-wide carnage makes it impossible to keep delivering our dwindling stocks of aid.
“Decades of violence have had life-altering consequences for children but not perpetrators – violence enabled by action and inaction of an international community operating at complete odds with the legal protections they are obliged to uphold. It is a devastating cycle of impunity that has spiraled out of control, and as is ever the case, children are paying the highest price.
“We call on all parties to fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, to protect the civilian population, to allow for the entry of humanitarian aid and supplies at scale, and to cease hostilities for a definitive ceasefire now.”
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