Millions more children’s lives and well-being are at risk if the conflict in the Middle East continues to accelerate, international aid agency, World Vision warns. Children are deeply affected by the continuing violence across the Middle East. In the West Bank and Gaza, millions more will be affected as they face hunger, psychosocial issues, and being out of school.
“All children matter deeply to God. The world must respond urgently to avoid the needless deaths of thousands of innocent civilians and allow a generation of children to start healing from this crisis. We hope and pray for de-escalation of this situation and an immediate end to the hostilities. Countless children’s futures hang in the balance now. Every day we wait is a day too long,” says Eleanor Monbiot, Regional Leader, of Middle East Eastern Europe.
An intensified conflict would be catastrophic for the region’s children. Dozens of children in northern Gaza are already feared to be dying daily from hunger and tens of thousands of others are at immediate risk of starvation. In the wake of repeated famine warnings, multiple government officials, including the United States, France, Jordan, Egypt, and the European Union, and food security experts have all said that famine is already a reality in northern Gaza. That means hundreds of children are likely to have already died of starvation and related health issues, and the lives of nearly 150,000 girls and boys in northern Gaza are at imminent risk.
Further escalation will push this perilous humanitarian crisis to dramatic new levels. An entire generation is at stake if aid organizations are not able to deliver the aid needed to stem the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank. World Vision calls on all parties to step away from escalation and find a path to immediate and lasting peace for the sake of the children.
“It is heartbreaking to see that famine has already started in the Middle East. Providing children with the food and medicine they need is the most sacred duty of the international community. It is the only way we will bring back some light into this terrible darkness,” Eleanor Monbiot adds.
“Immediate action will save the lives of thousands of children,” says Mary Njeri, World Vision’s Global Hunger Response Director. “But just surviving is not enough. The girls and boys who do live will still suffer from the long-term, life-altering physical and mental effects of hunger and malnutrition. Enduring extreme food deprivation has an impact on all aspects of their lives. Their ability to live up to their God-given potential will be limited and their communities and countries will be denied the contributions they would make.”