Young people’s access to healthcare during the war on Gaza: longitudinal evidence from GAGE

Since the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, Israel has carried out actions that amount to genocide. It has systematically destroyed the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of people, and deliberately deprived Gaza’s population of life-saving humanitarian aid (Amnesty International, 2024; HRW, 2024; Asem, 2025; B’Tselem, 2025; Forensic Architecture, 2025; UN, 2025). The violence and displacement have had significant impacts on young people’s health and their access to health services (including sexual and reproductive health services). In Gaza, even before 7 October, only 55% of essential medications were available, and many Palestinians, reliant on referrals to hospitals outside the territory, were often denied access by Israeli authorities (World Health Organization, 2022). Although the ceasefire in place since 10 October 2025 has brought some relief to young people in Gaza, humanitarian aid continues to be obstructed, and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed because of Israeli hostilities (OHCHR, 2026).

Suggested citation

Vintges, J., E., Abu Hamad, B., Diab, R., Leung, S. and Jones, N. (2026) ‘Young people’s access to healthcare during the war on Gaza: longitudinal evidence from GAGE’. Policy brief. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (https://gage.odi.org/young-people-s-access-to-healthcare-during-the-war-on-gaza-longitudinal-evidence-from-gage/)