We only use your email address to send you the newsletter and to see how many people are opening our emails. A full privacy policy can be viewed here. You can change your mind at any time and update your preferences or unsubscribe.

South of the Gaza Strip © Hossni Salah

Shattered lives and dreams: the toll of the war on Gaza on young people

28.11.24 | Palestine

Bodily integrity and freedom from violence | Humanitarian | Violence

Authors

Bassam Abu Hamad, Joost Vintges, Riyad Diab, Shoroq AbuHamad, Umaiyeh Khammash, Jennifer Dabis, Hala Labadi, Celine Maayeh and Nicola Jones

Accounting for approximately one quarter of Gaza’s population, over the past year, young people have witnessed traumatic events, lost family and friends, suffered from hunger and thirst, lost homes, and have not been able to go to school. Since the attack on Israel by Hamas on the 7th of October 2023 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has warned that Gaza is becoming ‘a graveyard for children’. One year on, even conservative estimates put the death toll among Gaza’s children at more than 14,000 (among an overall estimated death toll of over 42,000 and more than 10,000 still buried under the rubble) (Khatib et al., 2024; Wintour, 2023; United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2024)2. Children and young people, along with their families, have been displaced multiple times since the war started, and have yet to find a safe place, as designated safe zones are still targeted by the Israeli military, forcing families to flee once again (Yasser, 2024).

While there is no doubt that the war has taken a heavy toll on young Palestinians in Gaza, who are at a crucial stage of their development, concrete data on what is happening to young people in Gaza has been scarce since the war started, mainly due to the unprecedented level of violence and restricted access for humanitarian responders and independent observers. This short report draws on survey research with 1,011 young people aged 10-24 years across the five governorates of the Gaza Strip undertaken in August and September 2024 and aims to contribute to filling this gap, and to provide evidence to inform an urgently needed adolescent and youth-centred humanitarian response.

Suggested citation:

Abu Hamad, B., Vintges, J., Diab, R., AbuHamad, S., Khammash, U., Dabis, J., Labadi, H., Maayeh, C. and Jones, N. (2024) Shattered lives and dreams: the toll of the war on Gaza on young people. Report. London: Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (https://www.gage.odi.org/publication/shattered-lives-and-dreams-the-toll-of-the-war-on-gaza-on-young-people/)


Related publications

Journal articles
12.12.24
Can social protection contribute to social connectedness in contexts of forced displacement and crisis? Lessons from Jordan’s labelled cash transfer for education
Psychosocial well-being
Jordan
Read more
12.12.24 | Psychosocial well-being | Journal articles | Jordan
Can social protection contribute to social connectedness in contexts of forced displacement and crisis? Lessons from Jordan’s labelled cash transfer for education
Read more
Toolkits and survey instruments
29.11.24
Participatory research with young people: a toolkit
Cross-country
Read more
29.11.24 | Toolkits and survey instruments | Cross-country
Participatory research with young people: a toolkit
Read more
Toolkits and survey instruments
01.11.24
Adolescent girls’ and women’s economic and social empowerment in pastoralist Ethiopia: midline qualitative research instruments
Across GAGE capabilities
Ethiopia
Read more
01.11.24 | Across GAGE capabilities | Toolkits and survey instruments | Ethiopia
Adolescent girls’ and women’s economic and social empowerment in pastoralist Ethiopia: midline qualitative research instruments
Read more