What does peace mean for Gaza’s children?

By Dr Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director, Plan International.

For children in a war zone, peace means hope.

A ceasefire is a fragile thread that provides hope in the face of unimaginable hardship. After 15 months of relentless suffering, a just peace offers a rare moment of respite for Gaza’s children and children who are held as hostages and prisoners, an opportunity for healing and recovery, and the promise of a life beyond the horrors of war.

During a humanitarian mission to Gaza a few years ago (around the time when a ceasefire was announced during another war), I met Wahida, eight, outside Omar Khattab Primary School in North Gaza. The devastation was shocking, visible through the bombed-out structures, twisted steel and rubble where a school stood once.

I noticed Wahida and her friends searching for something in the rubble. A smile broke on Wahida’s face when she managed to locate a colourful poster – one she had made with cheap crayons and paint for her school project. She told me that she was happy she got it back, sad the bombs burned part of it.

Wahida’s optimism shone through as she expressed hope that soon there would be no more bombs and missiles and she would return to school to play with friends. It was a reminder that even in the darkest moments, children still dare to dream of peace.

As a humanitarian worker in conflict and war zones, I have seen firsthand the horrific toll that war takes on the most vulnerable – children. From bombings to separation and displacement, the trauma of the war stays with them long after the guns fall silent.

But I have also witnessed the power of peace and what ceasefires can bring to bombed out homes and neighbourhoods, where families used to live, share a meal and laughter. Life will never be the same when you live through a war, if you are lucky enough to survive one.

A thousand actions are now needed in Gaza. From practical experiences of working in war zones and from the history of ceasefires in Gaza and elsewhere, here I list four vital steps:

1) Put children first

Children never start wars, but suffer the most. In Gaza, children bear the brunt. At least 17,580 children are amongst the 46,707 people killed in just 15 months. Burn injuries from bombs and missile strikes have taken a very heavy toll on the fragile bodies of young children.

Over 21,000 children in Gaza have sustained conflict-related injuries, including children who are severely wounded with no known surviving family members, requiring significant rehabilitation. Many will sustain long-term disabilities, which amplifies emotional suffering and reduced mobility stops children from accessing vital service.

There are children amongst the hostages taken from Israel, and Palestinian children are being held in illegal detention in Israeli prisons. They have endured suffering that no child deserves. Research studies show that hostage and kidnap survivors can often experience stress reactions including denial, impaired memory, shock, numbness, anxiety, guilt, depression, anger, and a sense of helplessness.

In Gaza, children have lost their homes, separated from friends, families and caregivers. Thousands remain buried in the rubble of bombed out homes, and hospitals and schools, decimated in relentless bombing by Israeli military, leaving most of Gaza in unliveable condition.

Prioritising children’s needs should be the starting point in relief and recovery efforts.

2) Commit to a lasting ceasefire

“In a war zone, you can sign a peace deal on the back of a used envelope” is an often-repeated simple truth amongst mediators and negotiators. Making ceasefires work and making them travel in the direction of permanent peace depends on how much the parties in the conflict are committed to it.

A ceasefire is the beginning, not the end. It is an important turning point offering a future without war. Action must go beyond the immediate end of violence for lasting peace. All parties involved in the conflict must fulfil their promises and be held accountable for violations that may rock the peace deal.

Scaling up lifesaving humanitarian assistance and facilitating unhindered access for aid workers and relief supplies to all areas of Gaza is critical.

90% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Destruction of schools means that countless children are left without access to education or safe spaces to play, heal and learn. Rebuilding school and educational facilities along with hospitals and homes must be a top priority.

The destruction of water and sanitation systems has left children exceptionally vulnerable to life threatening waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea and cholera. Restoring clean water access and sanitation must be a top priority to avoid further health emergencies and preventable deaths.

3) Go beyond visible needs

The situation is dire. Food, water, safe shelter, healthcare, emotional support, protection and education services should be prioritised to help children and the Gazan people recover and heal.

Thousands of children are still facing famine-like conditions. Time is running out fast. Food and nutrition supplies should be a first priority. The destruction of water and hygiene facilities has forced girls and women to go without baths for days or even weeks, impacting their health and dignity. Cash assistance can go a long way to get markets functioning.

The war’s psychological impacts are often invisible but still catastrophic. Amnesty International had concluded that Israel was committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It came after the UN Special Committee concluded that the policies and practices of Israel against Palestinians in Gaza are consistent with the characteristics of genocide.

Children in Gaza have witnessed death, suffering and violence that would be unimaginable to most adults. An 18-year-old in Gaza today will have lived through conflicts in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now since October 2023. There is only so much young minds can take. Each new war chips away their innocence and steals their childhood.

Even when guns fall silent, psychological scars remain. Healing these wounds requires more than just medical treatment, it requires compassionate care and support.

Essential supplies, emotional care, schools and playgrounds can go a long way to help children heal.

Living through the early days of a ceasefire is often like living between anxiety, fear and hope. And matters of the mind are not always that obvious. Emotional care and support should find a central place in relief and recovery efforts.

4) Care for relief and health workers

Equally crucial is the support for those who are on the frontlines. Relief workers, nurses, ambulance drivers and doctors have demonstrated remarkable resilience and resistance, but the emotional toll of conflict is immense. Thousands of such relief workers and medical staff have experienced this brutality for over 15 months, on a daily basis.

The restrictions imposed by Israel on vital aid supplies have forced doctors to conduct surgeries without or with very little anaesthesia. Some have told me that they have conducted surgeries or even amputations on their own children in such terrible conditions. Teachers have witnessed schools being reduced to rubble. Parents have witnessed forced starvation reducing children to their bones.

Relief workers have expressed anger, sadness and emotional suffering. The vital work they do is perhaps one of the most important catalysts to rebuild lives. The human mind works like a balloon and requires the utmost care and attention in a war zone to make relief efforts impactful. Helping relief workers heal emotionally should be a key consideration.

The destruction in Gaza has been catastrophic. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres once warned that Gaza was ‘becoming a graveyard for children’. The past 15 months have tragically confirmed those fears.

Yet in the face of such despair, we must remember that even in rubble, there are fragments of hope. I remember vividly what I saw on a charred poster at a bombed school in North Gaza. It bore the words of Mahmoud Darwish, regarded as the Palestinian national poet:

“There is so much on this land worth living for.” For Gaza’s children a ceasefire and permanent and just peace means finding a way to live for those fragments of hope.

How can you help children in Gaza?

The ceasefire in Gaza offers a critical opportunity to help children and their families. With the support of our partner organisations, Plan International is working tirelessly to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to children and families affected by the conflict.

We urgently need support to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to as many people as possible. Your donation will go straight towards:

• life-saving food, first-aid, water, and medicine for families who have lost everything
• shelter kits for families crossing the border so they have somewhere safe to sleep
• menstrual hygiene kits so women and girls can manage their periods with dignity
• child protection services for children who have lost their parents, and are at risk of child-trafficking and exploitation
• counselling for children and their families who have been traumatised

Every hour we wait, even more children are at risk if  they do not receive urgent supplies.