An already paralyzed society, the recent aggression in Gaza have resulted in a profound deterioration of living conditions for children and their families and further erosion of the food supply that continues to be prevented from reaching civilians. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza remain homeless after their houses were badly damaged or destroyed during the recent violence. 

Over 56,000 children remain displaced along with their families, taking shelter in hastily erected tent cities or crowding into structures that remain standing after the devastation of entire regions. It has been estimated that over 280,000 children were forced from their homes during the conflict with families setting up ‘tent cities’ where whole neighborhoods once stood.  Many of the families reside in these canvas structures without access to clean drinking water or toilets and no protection from the low temperatures at night. 

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota visiting a collapsed home in Gaza where a family with five children once lived stated, "I have an image of a woman sitting in the rubble of her home burned in my head, all that remains is a lean-to."

The UN has reported that at least 4,000 homes were destroyed and about 17,000 badly damaged with 50,000 residents taking up shelter in UNRWA facilities during the height of the conflict and tens of thousands more moving in with family and friends.  Parents have few options if their homes have been destroyed and face insurmountable daily challenges caring for their children under these conditions.

UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes recently stated: "The destruction I saw was devastating – both in human and material terms. The magnitude of loss of life and injury to the civilian population is bound to have a lasting impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of the Palestinians in Gaza. All aspects of life and livelihood have been affected."

Food insecurity in Gaza was already catastrophic with more than two-thirds of children suffering from vitamin A deficiency and almost half of the children under two anemic.  The World Food Program in Gaza is reporting that due to the recent conflict “chicken and meat are now very costly or unavailable while fresh fruit and vegetables will be unavailable by May due to destroyed crops.” UNDP reports that “about 10% of the total [chicken] production – were killed during the war.”

Kinder USA is continuing its work feeding families who have lost their homes and have no means of cooking.  We are distributing prepared meals for pregnant women , providing vegetable/cheese/zatar pies to children in UNRWA schools as well as to families in tent cities through our bakery project.  Going forward, we are working towards developing teams for child psychosocial intervention as well as implementing mother and child primary health care and nutrition intervention in Gaza. 

Kinder USA will continue to update you of our work with your generous donations. The most basic necessities of life that we take for granted are beyond the reach of these children today and it remains an outrage that any child should go without food and shelter.  All of us at Kinder USA recognize our work is impossible without your continued generosity and ask that you please keep these innocent beings in your thoughts and prayers.

Making up more than half of the 1.5 million people in Gaza and more than a third of the population who lost their lives in the recent fighting, children in Gaza remain the most vulnerable. With nowhere to hide from the violence, witnessing the loss or injury of their siblings, parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors children have been severely affected psychologically.

"Gazan children are suffering from severe psychological stress living in violence and devastation, losing family members and becoming homeless. It is imperative that psychosocial trauma intervention begins immediately," said Dr. Jess Ghannam, board member of KinderUSA.

Prior to the recent conflict in Gaza, the education and health systems were already in crisis, the water and sanitation networks were near collapse, and daily life for families was at the breaking point due to the 18-month blockade. Unimpeded humanitarian access to the region is required to meet children's increasing needs, yet it remains unreliable and highly restrictive.  Medical professionals, along with international organization have faced unprecedented denial of access to Gaza since 5 November.  More than 50 percent of the normal minimum daily requirements have been and continue to be denied entry into Gaza. 

KinderUSA is continuing its bakery project feeding families ready to eat pies of cheese, zatar, and vegetables which are an immediate solution to the food needs of families with children who might otherwise go hungry.  In addition, the bakery continues to produce bread for distribution to families who are receiving food parcels from various aid organizations.  

Two advisory board members of KinderUSA are on the ground in Gaza and will be reporting back with their assessment of how best to meet the formidable challenges that lie ahead for the Palestinian child.  Filing pictures used for this email, Adam Shapiro made the following statement from Gaza:

"What we have seen here is worse than what we imagined from the pictures and reports we were receiving.  An already traumatized, imprisoned and devastated population has been brought to the brink, and yet, maintain a spirit of not only steadfastness, but also determination to rebuild and struggle forward.  Gazans, however, insist that this time, there must be, finally, accountability. From our perspective, the pretext of security and defense rings hollow when we hear testimony after testimony of Israeli soldiers shooting civilians, and in many cases children, at point blank range, when they were trying to flee with their families."

Our vision is to continue sustainable projects that work with what is available on the ground helping the local economy in addition to providing opportunities for parents to care for their children.  The task ahead of us all is not only to provide humanitarian assistance, but to provide a forward looking perspective with a dignified existence for the Gazans.

We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.  All of us at KinderUSA remain deeply moved by the outpouring of all our donors and know without you our work is not possible.  Thank you.

All of us at Kinder USA welcome the cease fire that has been instituted in Gaza and pray that it will be sustained so no more children will suffer.  Children have borne the brunt of this conflict with an outrageous number having lost their lives and loved ones. Many more have spent weeks cold, hungry, afraid, deprived of food, clean water and health care being without any basic services. Children, especially those under five, remain vulnerable to the spread of water-related diseases, such as diarrhea and cholera. 

It is being reported that over 100,000 people have been displaced and supplies of basic foodstuffs, water, sanitation, and medical care remain critical.  The ability of hospitals to care for the injured has been stretched to the limit with a constant flow of wounded arriving after 22 days of bombardment.  Over 400,000 people still remain without clean running water, while the livelihoods and personal assets of tens of thousands of civilians have been destroyed. 

“It is dreadful to think of the number of children that have lost their lives and we cannot underestimate the tremendous psychological toll the last three weeks have had on the  entire population,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati.

Many families will not be able to access food due to the increase of prices since the start of the military operations.  According to the World Food Program, the cost of chicken has increased by 23%, the price of wheat flour as used in our bakery 45%, peppers 100%, and the price of tomatoes 500%.

The situation remains dire and Kinder USA is doing its utmost to address the emergency needs as identified by partners on the ground.  Since the start of the violence, your donations have provided bread and cheese/zatar/date pies to over 25,000 people and our team is still distributing hot cooked meals to 2 UNRWA schools reaching over 3000 people, three quarters of the population are children, consisting of rice, chicken, and vegetables while distributing bread and pies to 5000 people, over half of whom are children. 

One of our gravest concerns right now is the mental well-being of the children in Gaza and the extreme levels of trauma they have endured during the past three weeks.  Many children have lost immediate family members, while many more search the rubble finding more pain and despair in an attempt to locate anything to connect them with life before the assault.  Mahdia El Braim, director of the bakery in Khan Younis describes the current situation, “No one can imagine the grief and devastation felt by everyone.  You look at what was once your home, your farm, your school, your favorite store and its gone.  Every where you look there is destruction and people are crying.  It’s terrible”

Kinder USA will continue to update you as more information becomes available and our work expands. Our immediate goal, with your continued support, is to keep this bakery and food distribution operating regardless of cost as it is serving a tremendous need.  An assessment is being done to understand how best to help the children who have borne the brunt of the violence.  Please continue to support our work.  The children are counting on us now more than ever.  Thank you from all of us at Kinder USA for letting the people of Gaza know they are not alone.