The ongoing violence in Gaza is putting an intolerable strain on an already vulnerable population. More than 18,000 people have now been killed, half of them children; and a further 8,000 remain missing under the debris of buildings or because they have been arrested by ground forces. 85% of Gaza’s population are now displaced, and 60,000 homes have been destroyed.
Whilst many people are in temporary shelters or staying with relatives or friends, others are living on the streets. Even those who find shelter must be prepared to move again and again due to the relentless, ongoing bombardment. There are no truly safe places; there are no bomb shelters, no alarms or missile warning systems, and all borders are sealed. In Gaza, there is nowhere to run.
Almost a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants are adolescents. Amid the violence, they face myriad challenges to their survival. In addition to the risk of death, injury, and displacement, the breakdown of social order and collapse of basic services and systems is having a major physical and psychological impact on young people that will have lasting consequences. As well as trying to survive the bombing, adolescents and their families are struggling daily to secure safe drinking water, adequate food, and electricity.
This lack of resources, amid the breakdown of social protection systems and a lack of aid entering Gaza, has created enormous stress for communities. This stress is compounded by parental deaths, with an estimated 25,000 children now having lost one or both parents. As a result, children and young people are increasingly vulnerable to violence and abuse within their communities.
Adolescent girls must additionally cope with the gendered impacts of the disintegration of infrastructure and security, including a complete lack of privacy and no access to hygiene and sanitary products, water for washing, separate and secure toilets, or reproductive healthcare. For girls staying in the temporary shelters, there is one toilet for every 700 people, so there is often a two hour wait to use them, making menstrual hygiene management even more difficult.
A ceasefire—as supported by 153 countries in the UN General Assembly vote on December 12 – is crucial to stop the mass violation of young people’s rights, secure access to basic resources, and begin to provide intensive psychosocial support to a traumatised generation.
You can read the Arabic version of the blog here
