Children are trapped in a silent nightmare

Thousands of children in Gaza and Lebanon are living in hell on earth. They awake each day, on cold streets or in flooded tents, to the sounds of war planes flying overhead.

Many are so severely injured they can no longer run from the bombs that have killed their friends and family.

Now alone and afraid, they are drinking dirty water from puddles that carry deadly diseases like cholera and polio. They have little food to eat. Children have already died from severe malnutrition. Right now, more than 50,000 children need immediate treatment for acute malnutrition and the risk of famine in Gaza persists.

Amid these horrors, at least 14,000 children in Gaza have died in a year of unimaginable suffering, some in their beds alone and others in the streets, trying to escape. In Lebanon, over 100 children have been killed, most in just a few deadly weeks as the conflict dangerously escalates. Without immediate support, thousands more will die. 

In Gaza, over 1.5 million children are in urgent need, while in Lebanon 1.2 million men, women and children have fled their homes.

And now winter is coming, bringing with it temperatures that in Lebanon can fall as low as -10°C, with heavy snow, and torrential rain. Hungry, frightened children living in these deadly conditions need shelter. They need blankets. They need your help now. There is no time to lose.

Time is running out

Sila is only four years old, but she is trapped in a silent nightmare in Gaza.

Her mother, father and three sisters were killed in an airstrike. She was so injured, the doctors had to amputate her leg. Now, in the silence between the bombs, she struggles to survive, alone and living in a cold, abandoned school, struggling to navigate Gaza’s ruined streets with her tiny walking frame.

As hard as it is to imagine, the endless bombs that killed her parents are no longer her biggest threat. There is little food for children in Gaza and hunger can be deadly.

Without urgent support, Sila could end up like baby Saddallha.

When he was born, he weighed just 6.6 pounds. Seven months later, suffering from severe acute malnutrition, he weighs even less.

Saddallha’s mother Najah had spent five years trying for a baby with her husband. The joy when he was born has now been replaced with pain, as she watches her son fade away. In the deadly chaos of Gaza, she cannot find enough food to keep him alive.

“His condition keeps getting worse,” she said. “I’m very worried about him.”

Without immediate nutritional support, Saddallha could die.

He and Sila are just two of millions of children in Gaza and Lebanon who have been forced to flee their homes and now live with the daily threat of death from bombs, malnutrition and disease. With little food, clean water or even a blanket to keep them warm, they need help now. Time is running out.

UNICEF will not stop despite the deadly attacks

In Gaza, 67% of water and sanitation infrastructure and 82% of health facilities have been destroyed or damaged. In Lebanon, the water supply for over 375,000 people has been restricted after 29 water facilities were badly damaged.

Thousands of children are now completely reliant on life-saving supplies being sent by people like you.

The threats to delivering this aid are deadly and the challenges immense.

Yet despite this, live-saving food, safe water and medical aid is reaching children and helping them survive the horror thanks to generous support from people like you. This includes:

• Treating at least 21,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition in Gaza
• Installing 5,000 latrines and providing safe water to more than 1 million children at risk from deadly diseases.
• Providing 9.1 million litres of trucked water and 12,244 hygiene kits to people in Lebanon forced from their homes.
• Distributing 20,015 blankets, 4,108 mattresses, and 3,350 sleeping bags.

Despite these efforts, millions more people need ongoing, urgent help. Right now, children in Gaza and Lebanon face severe injury, suffering and death. They need your help now. 

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