The international charity Save the Children said in a press release on Monday that about 130,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10 have been trapped under an Israeli siege in northern Gaza for 50 days.
The organization said children living in north Gaza “have been almost completely cut off from supplies of food, water, and medicine since October 6, 2024, when Israeli forces declared the area to be a closed military zone, with the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) saying that famine is either imminent or likely already occurring in the area.”
In early October, Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza and declared the area a military zone as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. The operation has been focused on the cities of Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and Beit Hanoun, which have been under a total siege, and barely any aid has reached Gaza City.
Save the Children noted that the UN “also warned nearly a month ago that the entire population of North Gaza governorate was at risk of dying, yet attempts by aid groups to access the area have been repeatedly denied by Israeli forces.” The charity said it had been trying to deliver food parcels to northern Gaza for over seven weeks, but the effort failed, and the aid was re-directed to the south.
Ruba, a mother of two in northern Gaza, described her situation to Save the Children. “I am trapped with my children under relentless bombs, rockets, and bullets, with nowhere to run. My mother is paralyzed, and I cannot leave her behind. My brother has been killed, my husband was taken, and I don’t know if he’s alive. Our home was destroyed over our heads, and we survived by a miracle,” she said.
“With no food, no clean water, and constant fear, both my children have developed rashes, and my daughter is passing blood, but there is no medicine, no help, and absolutely nothing I can do. They cry and ask me why we can’t just leave, why their father isn’t with us, why we can’t go back to a normal life,” Ruba added.
On October 13, the Biden administration sent a letter to Israeli officials that said Israel must allow more aid trucks into Gaza within 30 days. The letter said there may be “implications” under US foreign assistance laws that prohibit aid to countries that block humanitarian aid shipments.
During that 30-day period, the aid situation in Gaza only got worse, and Israel came nowhere close to fulfilling the demands in the letter. But when the deadline came, the Biden administration said there would be no consequences for Israel, and US weapons shipments continue to flow, confirming the letter was just a pre-election public relations stunt.
