After more than two years of relentless war in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire announced on October 9 offers a brief but vital moment of hope for children and families.

For the more than 20,000 children who lost their lives, it comes too late — but for nearly one million others, it’s a chance to begin the long road toward recovery.

Homes, schools, and hospitals lie in ruins. Over 80% of buildings are destroyed. Families are displaced, hungry, and grieving. As winter approaches, children’s most basic needs — shelter, food, safety, medical care, and education — grow more urgent each day.

Save the Children teams are on the ground in Gaza, working with local partners to deliver life-saving aid and help families survive this critical moment. What we do together during this pause in fighting will be crucial to children’s survival and recovery.

Here are the five urgent needs children in Gaza face right now — and how you can help.

1. Safe Shelter and Warmth

Children urgently need safe, warm places to live after losing their homes.

Thousands of families are living in makeshift tents or among the rubble of their former homes. With the cold season closing in, children need protection from the elements — safe places to sleep, warm clothing, and access to sanitation facilities to prevent disease.

Save the Children is preparing to distribute essential winter items including blankets, warm clothes, and hygiene kits as supplies arrive across the border. Your support can help families rebuild a sense of safety and dignity.

2. Food and Clean Water

Hunger and dehydration threaten children’s survival every day.

Famine was declared in parts of Gaza in August, and hunger still looms large. Children are battling severe malnutrition, dehydration, and preventable illnesses.

Save the Children is expanding water delivery to 45 new sites while maintaining clean water access at 65 existing ones. We are also distributing more than 11,000 hygiene kits to reduce disease and ensure families have access to safe, clean water.

Your donation can help deliver life-saving food and water to families who need it most.

3. Medical Care and Nutrition Support

Children need urgent access to health services and treatment for malnutrition.

With hospitals destroyed and medicine in short supply, countless children have gone without care for months.

Save the Children continues to operate health and nutrition services at two primary clinics in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, while establishing 10 new mother-baby areas to support treatment and recovery from malnutrition.

We urgently need more medical and nutrition supplies to save lives. Together, we can ensure no child is left without the care they need.

4. Mental Health and Protection

The psychological toll of war has left deep scars on Gaza’s children.

The war has inflicted unprecedented trauma — emotional wounds that could last generations. Children need safe spaces to play, process, and begin healing.

Save the Children is doubling the number of child-friendly spaces providing mental health and psychosocial support. We’re also expanding case management services to reach children with complex needs and distributing warm clothing and essentials to help families endure the winter.

Every child deserves the chance to feel safe again. Your gift can help provide it.

5. Education and Hope for the Future

Education is a lifeline — restoring normalcy and hope for Gaza’s children.

Countless schools have been destroyed, leaving children cut off from learning and stability. Education offers more than knowledge — it brings structure, confidence, and the sense that a future is still possible.

Save the Children is setting up 10 new learning spaces and continuing to operate 12 more, ensuring children can access education and emotional support in a safe environment. We’re also distributing learning kits so that children can begin to rebuild their futures.

With your help, we can give children the tools and opportunities they need to heal and learn.

How We’re Helping — and How You Can, Too

Since the war began, Save the Children’s 200 staff and 25 local partners across Gaza and the West Bank have reached more than 1.6 million people, including 812,000 children.

Following the ceasefire, we are ready to rapidly scale up our humanitarian response — but we can’t do it alone.

Your support can help us reach even more children in Gaza with food, protection, medical care and hope.

This ceasefire offers a precious window — one that could save countless young lives. Together, we can help children in Gaza survive the winter, recover from trauma and begin to dream again.