EU Commissioner Calls for Protection of Children in Gaza and the West Bank

Key points

• European Commissioner Lahbib spoke at the Call to Action for the Children of Gaza and the West Bank in New York.
• Nearly the entire population of Gaza is squeezed into less than half of the Strip, overcrowded, unsanitary and unsafe, with children lacking food, medicine and shelter and many out of school.
• Despite the ceasefire announced in October, children are still being killed and injured by airstrikes and other attacks; by early August, at least 300 children had been killed in the 300 days since the ceasefire was announced.
• In the West Bank, military operations, demolitions, movement restrictions and settler violence cut people off from water, healthcare and jobs, and children from school.
• The EU and its Member States have provided nearly €700 million in humanitarian assistance, much of it directly for children through education and mental health support.