Gaza ministry reports 54,468 children lost parents since 2023

The Palestinian Ministry of Social Development in Gaza has recorded 54,468 children who lost one or both parents since October 2023. This count reflects the demographic impact of the conflict that began in that year. The ministry's data also identifies at least 64,000 widows and 71,000 orphaned children across the territory. These figures include individuals bereaved in earlier Israeli military operations.

The ministry's registration system indicates that approximately 3,000 children currently have no registered guardian, custodian, or caregiver. Ministry spokesperson Aziza al-Kahlout stated that the statistics do not fully capture the daily hardships these families endure. She noted that a child who loses both parents loses care, safety, education, and childhood. Kahlout added that these minors are forced to take on responsibilities far beyond their age.

Women who become the sole breadwinners in their families face a dual burden, according to Kahlout. They must provide for their children while raising them amid widespread devastation. The spokesperson warned of alarming signs of increasing child labor, school dropout rates, and early marriage. She attributed these trends to poverty, displacement, and the loss of family income earners. Kahlout said orphaned children are particularly vulnerable as economic and humanitarian conditions deteriorate.

Mariam, 16, Aya, 14, and Jebril, 12, are three siblings who have followed a specific routine since becoming orphans. They lost their father during Israel's 2014 offensive on Gaza. When their home in Gaza City was destroyed during the war that started in 2023, the family took shelter with their mother, Islam, in a makeshift tent in Deir al-Balah. The ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025. On the nineteenth day after that date, an Israeli bomb struck the tent. Islam died in front of her children.

The siblings now rotate between relatives, spending two nights with each of their maternal aunts. They mostly stay with their paternal grandmother. Their aunt, Warda al-Muzeini, told Middle East Eye that the children have no stable home. Jebril was sitting in his mother's lap when the bomb struck and was injured. Al-Muzeini said, "He saw his mother die in front of him."

Al-Muzeini lost her own husband in an Israeli air strike. She now raises four children alone without a job or reliable income. She said she struggles to provide even one meal a day. Another of the aunts is also a widow. The sisters share the financial load, with one buying pyjamas, another providing slippers, and another giving the children pocket money for a couple of days.

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

Attar suffered minor shrapnel injuries and was taken to a 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, then asked, "All of them at once?" She first stayed with her grandparents and later moved in with her uncle, his wife, and their newborn. Attar said she wished she had been in the house when it was bombed for months. Her uncle's wife comforted her by reminding her that her father would want her to stay strong. Attar added, "But of course, I know that no one could ever replace my own family."