OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (GAZA & THE WEST BANK)
Population: 5.2 million
People in Need: 2.1 million
OUR IMPACT
People Helped Last Year: 525,314
Our Team: 65 employees
Program Start: 2002
With no education, healthcare or food security, children face a grim triple threat
Ongoing conflict in Gaza has left more than 625,000 students and 22,500 teachers without any access to schools since Oct. 7. Families across the Gaza Strip are struck with daily attacks on schools, hospitals, and homes. Over 76% of Gaza’s schools are damaged or destroyed.
Education systems in Gaza and the West Bank were already limited far before conflict broke out, but the escalation of violence has ruined critical infrastructure, restricted access, and left more than 10,000 children dead. Action Against Hunger reiterates our call for a permanent and sustained ceasefire to protect children and their right to education during this crisis.
“Our teams in the West Bank have been working for years to ensure children’s right to education,” says Chiara Saccardi, Action Against Hunger’s Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East. “A safe and dignified education is key to preventing displacement and also helps to break cycles of violence and poverty. It is an essential step for the future of these children. To this end, international humanitarian organizations are supporting children’s access to schools and education in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Gaza
Prior to the escalation of the conflict, education systems in Gaza were stunted due to limited availability of construction materials. As a result, few schools were repaired or built. Gaza’s schools were also often closed and reused as emergency shelters in previous conflicts.
Still, previous humanitarian access allowed for some education systems to continue operating. Today, this right does not exist in Gaza. Over 433,000 students and 16,000 teachers have been affected by the conflict.
These unprecedented levels of violence have exposed children of all ages to death, orphanhood, hunger, communicable diseases and extremely traumatic events, while stripping them of any available coping options. According to the Ministry of Education, as of Jan. 23, 4,510 students and 231 teachers had died in Gaza.
West Bank
Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza faced severe limitations on education far before Oct. 7. According to the West Bank Protection Consortium, in 2023, nearly 6,000 children in 117 West Bank communities were left out of primary school and almost 5,000 children had difficulty accessing daily education due to movement restrictions, security checks, and harassment, intimidation, and violence on their way to school.
Since then, violence has escalated: Israeli forces and settlers have killed 362 Palestinians, including 92 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Disturbing acts of violence include a November 2023 incident in Khirbet Zanuta, two of the classrooms in a school that had been supported by our partner organizations were set on fire and then razed and demolished by settlers. A few weeks later, surrounding communities were forcibly displaced and relocated, leaving children unable to go to school.
Forced displacement of civilians is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and is considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Children should be protected and allowed to remain in their homes.
Action Against Hunger’s Work in Gaza and the West Bank
Since the conflict began in October 2023, Action Against Hunger has been working in extreme and dangerous conditions to:
- Provide one million liters of clean drinking water to more than 51,600 displaced Gazans.
- Distribute food baskets to more than 17,440 people, including fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Give hygiene supplies to benefit 95,900 people in 19 displacement shelters, primarily in Rafah.
- Provided shelter items, like plastic sheeting and wood, to nearly 17,000 people in ten shelters.
From October 18 to December 21, our teams reached 340,000 people in Gaza, nearly half of them children. Half of the families we supported were in Rafah, and the rest were in Khan Younis (18%), northern Gaza (18%), and central Gaza (14%).
Action Against Hunger has been providing Palestinians in the West Bank with lifesaving emergency assistance since the conflict began, and since 2015, staff members have supported more than 60 schools, including kindergartens and nurseries.
However, as the violence and blockade continue, not enough lifesaving assistance is reaching people in need. Local market supplies are limited and inflation has soared, leaving many people unable to afford food and daily necessities. Access to aid is uneven as people continue to move. We can no longer reach areas in northern Gaza where people are most hungry, due to fighting and lack of transport.
Action Against Hunger has been working in the West Bank since 2002, helping to improve access to education, water and sanitation services, and livelihood opportunities. Today, vulnerable Palestinian people are being forced from their communities due to an increase in violence. Others are completely blocked off from basic supplies and access to healthcare. Action Against Hunger is committed to responding to the needs of the population and ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches as many people as possible.