Gaza Herald – UNICEF warned that Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza has completely collapsed the Strip’s economic and social foundations, “erasing seven decades of development” and pushing nearly every family into multi-dimensional poverty.
The organization said unemployment has soared above 80%, and families now face overlapping crises, from hunger and lack of income to the destruction of healthcare, education, and safe living conditions.
According to the report, 94% of Gaza’s hospitals and 85% of water and sanitation facilities have been destroyed or severely damaged, while 97% of schools and universities have been hit. Almost every child has been out of school for more than two years, losing education, skills, and future opportunities.
UNICEF estimates that 10,000 children have suffered hearing loss from relentless explosions, untreated infections, and extreme noise, with the real number, including adults, potentially reaching 35,000.
Across the Strip, life remains frozen in survival mode: families searching for food and water, parents trying to keep children warm, and aid workers navigating a devastated landscape with unpredictable dangers. Despite the declared ceasefire on 10 October 2025, UNICEF reports that two children are still being killed every day, and families continue to face hunger, displacement, and the collapse of essential services.
UNICEF stressed that Gaza’s humanitarian emergency has not ended. Homes, hospitals, and schools lie in ruins, winter temperatures are adding new risks, and thousands of children are living with untreated injuries and disabilities. For Gaza’s families, many of whom have lost everything, humanitarian assistance remains the only lifeline.
The organization underscored that since Israel’s genocidal assault began on 7 October 2023, more than 239,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured, most of them children and women, with over 11,000 still missing beneath the rubble. Hundreds of thousands remain displaced as famine and disease spread across a devastated and largely uninhabitable territory.
