The charity group said the Strip’s population have suffered from “unequal access to natural resources” for years under the Israeli air, land and naval blockade.
Those issues have been exacerbated amid the ongoing Israeli offensive, particularly the lack of access to clean drinking water that is now affecting the entire population, including over one million children.
“The current crisis in Gaza is both a violent conflict, and a slow-burning eradication of children’s rights, fuelled by international neglect, a failure of leadership, and the climate crisis,” Mohamad Al Asmar, advocacy and resource mobilisation director for Save the Children in the Middle East, stated.
“The over a million children with their lives on the line in Gaza were already on the frontline of the climate crisis. If you are a child in Gaza, you will have no memory of a life without water shortages, created by political action – the blockade – and inaction on climate change,” Asmar, who is currently in Dubai attending the Cop28 summit, added.
“The health and environmental impacts of climate change cannot be contained within specific territories or across borders, and are likely to impact across the region, including in Israel,” Asmar continued.
“Again and again, more than one million Palestinian children have been deprived of their basic rights. We need an immediate ceasefire and an end to the blockade as the only way to keep children safe and preserve their future.”
