In the Gaza Strip, death no longer comes solely from the missiles the Israeli occupation drops on every person, it now creeps in silently from every direction: from the trembling body of a feverish child deprived of medicine, from the chest of an infant suffocating in an incubator without electricity, and from the eyes of a mother watching her unborn baby taken from her before birth. Since October 2023, Israel’s ongoing genocide of annihilation has gone far beyond a military assault; it has become, in legal, moral, and historical terms, an act of genocide against an entire generation of Palestinians. From the very onset of this Israeli genocidal war, it became clear that children would be the most vulnerable targets. In Gaza, the vacant eyes of children reveal their catastrophic health situation, marked by the absence of medical care, adequate nutrition, and safe shelter.
Children Suffering as a Weapon of War
In Gaza, daily reality is no longer limited to the immediate aftermath of bombings and destruction; it now reveals itself as a complex crime systematically executed by the Israeli occupation. This is reflected in deliberate policies starting with the blockade on medicines and vaccines, the destruction of hospitals, and the intentional targeting of children’s bodies with hunger and disease. The environment that should protect childhood has been dismantled, leaving behind a generation trapped in slow death and daily suffering, leading to the collapse of the entire healthcare system and creating a lethally deteriorating environment.
More than 650,000 children under five are now facing a real and immediate health threat due to the complete absence of health security, an unprecedented figure that is 15 times higher than pre-genocide levels.
- Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Media Office.
Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta, Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, describes this strategy as a means of "silent killing" aimed at future generations. He confirms that the Israeli occupation has created catastrophic health conditions that have pushed hundreds of thousands of children to the brink of danger. Speaking to Quds News Network, he stated: "The Israeli genocidal war has directly contributed to the spread of serious diseases among children, most notably meningitis, chickenpox, hepatitis A, infectious respiratory diseases, and polio. These diseases are spreading due to overcrowding in displacement shelters, forced displacement, and the complete lack of preventive care and treatment." Dr. Al-Thawabta stresses that what the children in Gaza are enduring cannot be described merely as a "collateral consequence" of the war. Rather, it is a deliberate and systematic strategy aimed at dismantling the Palestinian generation at its roots. The figures reveal a shocking reality: more than 67 children have died from severe hunger and malnutrition, while at least 1,000 others have succumbed to treatable diseases; deaths that could have been prevented if not for the collapse of healthcare services and the denial of access to essential medicines and antibiotics. 
Denied Vaccines, Denied Life
A drop of vaccine, that tiny, life-saving fluid, has been deliberately withheld from children’s arms, because the Israeli occupation has decided that this generation should receive nothing but disease and death. In Gaza, a child is born deprived of their first layer of immunity, finding only weakness in their body and danger lurking in the air, water, and overcrowded spaces. The vaccine, which should have been the child’s first protective embrace, has become a stolen privilege; another barrier in Israel’s genocidal war. Between the doses that never arrived and the untreated diseases, little lives are extinguished, lives that could have been saved if not for a deliberate decision to deny this generation the right to survive. Dr. Hani Al-Faleet, Head of the Pediatric Department, told Quds News Network that the daily reality is overwhelmed by what he describes as a “pandemic explosion.” Not a single day passes without receiving multiple cases of children suffering from diseases once thought eradicated. He stated: “Gastroenteritis, severe respiratory infections, polio, and chickenpox… all are now found together in the body of a single child, while we stand helpless, devoid of the vaccines needed to save them.” Dr. Ismail Al-Thawabta confirms: “Since the onset of the genocidal war, the Israeli occupation has blocked the entry of most essential vaccines, including those for polio, hepatitis, measles, and chickenpox.” He highlights that more than 650,000 children under five are now facing a real and immediate health threat due to the complete absence of health security, an unprecedented figure that is 15 times higher than pre-genocide levels.
When my baby's cries grew louder; not only from sickness, but from hunger, I could do nothing but hold him while he cried, and cry with him. No mother should ever feel this helpless.
- Maisa Nassar, mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy.
This is confirmed by Mrs. Maisa Nassar, whose one-and-a-half-year-old child recently suffered from severe amoebiasis. She told Quds News Network about the dire condition of her son, with no treatment or medication available. “Doctors told me the infection was caused by contaminated water,” she said. “There is no clean water in Gaza. On top of that, I couldn’t find any medicine for my child in any pharmacy, and after a long and desperate search, I was forced to give him adult medication because there was nothing else.” She continued, her voice trembling with exhaustion: “My baby didn’t just cry from pain; he cried because there was nothing to relieve it. Even when I finally found adult medication that might help, the doctor told me he needed a specific diet to tolerate it. But what food? There is none. The markets are empty. No milk, no proper nutrition, not even vegetables. And when his cries grew louder; not only from sickness, but from hunger, I could do nothing but hold him while he cried, and cry with him. No mother should ever feel this helpless.”
Collapsing Healthcare Leaves Children on Floors
In the overwhelmed hospital corridors, the floor has become a replacement for beds, and cold tiles serve as a painful cradle for the fragile bodies of sick children. At Shuhada’a Al-Aqsa Hospital and other hospitals across Gaza, there are no longer enough beds even for the most urgent cases. Often, two children share a single bed, taking turns with pain and breath, amid a severe shortage of medical equipment and staff. Dr. Hani Al-Faleet says: “We are forced to place two or even three children in one bed, and some are treated on the floor or in the hallways. We have no other choice.” The scene repeats daily: mothers carrying their children, suffering from fever or severe diarrhea, desperately searching for a corner or hallway where treatment can begin. There are no monitoring devices, insufficient medicines, and no time for rest. What is available is far too little against a rising tide of pain. It has become evident that this is no longer a temporary crisis, but a full picture of a collapsed healthcare system unable to care for its most vulnerable victims: the children. 
Israeli War on Unborn Babies
The Israeli occupation did not limit its war to children, it escalated to target unborn babies as well. Wombs in Gaza are no longer safe havens for life. Across Gaza’s hospitals, obstetrics departments record near-daily miscarriages as women lose their unborn children under the weight of bombing, starvation, fear, and lack of medical care. Dr. Ayman Abu Shamala, OB-GYN at Al-Awda Hospital, states: “We are enduring a silent catastrophe. The miscarriage rate has soared to unprecedented levels. Many cases reach us too late, either due to lack of transportation or the complete collapse of the healthcare system.” According to medical reports, more than 30% of pregnant women in Gaza have suffered serious complications since the onset of the assault, including miscarriages, bleeding, premature births, and fetal deaths in the womb. The causes are numerous; severe malnutrition, chronic stress, lack of specialized care, and inability to access hospitals offering even minimal services. “Fetuses are dying in their mothers’ wombs before they ever see the light of day,” says Dr. Abu Shamala with sorrow. He adds, “Deteriorating mental health, lack of prenatal follow-up, and medication shortages have become direct causes of pregnancy loss, especially in the early months.” In the first half of this year alone, 2,600 fetal and newborn deaths were recorded, including 67 with congenital deformities, 2,535 in incubators, and 1,600 born underweight.
In the first half of this year alone, 2,600 fetal and newborn deaths were recorded, including 67 with congenital deformities, 2,535 in incubators, and 1,600 born underweight.
What is happening in Gaza; the direct and indirect targeting of children through the destruction of the healthcare system and the blockade of medicine and vaccines, is not merely a "side effect" of war. It constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), Article 50, mandates the protection of children and the provision of medical care during armed conflicts. Article 55 obligates the occupying power to ensure the supply of food and medicine to the civilian population. Similarly, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), to which Israel is a signatory, guarantees every child's right to the highest attainable standard of health (Article 24) and prohibits denying them access to basic healthcare. Therefore, preventing the entry of vaccines and essential medicines, destroying healthcare infrastructure, and abandoning children to disease and starvation reflect a systematic policy that clearly violates both international humanitarian law and human rights law, placing those responsible within the scope of international criminal accountability. In Gaza, childhood has no time to grow. What’s dying is not just life, but the belief that children deserve to live without fear. And as the bombs fall, funded by American tax dollars, and the silence of the world grows heavier, the question echoes louder: how many more children must vanish before innocence matters again?
