Description
MSF teams have treated tens of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza with respiratory and skin infections, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea — illnesses that surge when families lack safe water, sanitation, hygiene supplies, and adequate shelter — just this year.
Children are bearing the brunt of Gaza’s deteriorating living conditions, with newborns and young infants among the most vulnerable.
After almost three years of mass forced displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure, many Palestinians continue to live in overcrowded shelters and tents with insufficient access to safe water, no functioning sanitation, and limited hygiene supplies. Poor ventilation and overcrowding contribute to the spread of respiratory infections.
MSF teams are also seeing rodent bites and a high rate of infectious skin diseases, including scabies, with reinfection common when families cannot properly wash clothes or bedding. Israeli authorities continue to restrict lifesaving medical and humanitarian aid, resulting in unhealthy and undignified living conditions that no child should ever have to endure. This is stripping Gaza's children of a healthy life, and any chance of recovery.