Gaza Child Welfare: 54,468 Children Have Lost Parents Since 2023

Three siblings in Gaza City now spend their nights in a rotating schedule among their aunts' tents. Mariam, 16, Aya, 14, and Jebril, 12, follow this two-day cycle because they have no permanent residence. Their father died during the 2014 offensive, and their mother, Islam, was killed on the 19th day of the ceasefire that began in October 2025. An Israeli airstrike destroyed the makeshift shelter in Deir al-Balah where the family had been living.

The Palestinian Ministry of Social Development states that 54,468 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents since the war began in October 2023. The ministry counts at least 64,000 widows and 71,000 orphaned children across the territory. This total includes those bereaved in earlier military attacks. The ministry's records show that approximately 3,000 children currently have no registered guardian or caregiver.

Warda al-Muzeini, the siblings' aunt, said the children mostly stay with their paternal grandmother but rotate between their maternal aunts. Jebril was injured when the bomb struck because he was sitting in his mother's lap. "He saw his mother die in front of him," Muzeini said. She lost her own husband in an Israeli air strike and now raises four children alone without a job or reliable income. She said she struggles to provide even one meal a day. Another aunt is also a widow. The sisters share the cost of basic items, with one buying pajamas, another slippers, and another giving the children pocket money for a few days.

Aziza al-Kahlout, the ministry's spokesperson, said the official numbers do not capture the daily suffering. She explained that a child who loses both parents loses care and safety, as well as education and childhood. Such children are forced to carry responsibilities far beyond their years. Women who become the sole breadwinners for their families face the double burden of providing for children and raising them amid devastation.

Al-Kahlout warned of "deeply alarming signs of growing risks of child labour, school dropout and early marriage in Gaza." She attributed these risks to poverty, displacement, and the loss of family breadwinners. She said orphaned children are especially exposed as economic and humanitarian conditions worsen and adequate shelter remains scarce.

Wafaa al-Attar, now 13, lost her entire immediate family in a single strike on 22 February 2024. She was 10 years old when she left her home in Deir al-Balah to charge her father's phone at her uncle's house, which had solar panels. A massive blast struck the multi-storey building where her family was staying. The air strike killed her father, Ahmed, her mother, Khouloud, and her four siblings: Rital, 8, Muhammed, 5, Obada, 3, and nine-month-old Yazan.

Al-Attar suffered minor shrapnel injuries and was taken to hospital. She kept asking about her family until her uncle arrived and told her they had died. She fell silent for two or three hours before wondering, "All of them at once?" She first stayed with her grandparents and later moved in with her uncle, his wife, and their newborn. "For months, I wished I had been with them in the house when it was bombed. I wished I had been killed with them," Al-Attar said. Her uncle's wife comforted her and reminded her that her father would want her to stay strong. "But of course, I know that no one could ever replace my own family," Al-Attar said.