Bessell, S., & O’Sullivan, C. (2026). The failure to protect the rights and needs of children in Gaza. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1708975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1708975
Abstract:
Over the past 80 years, international human rights and humanitarian law have emphasized the protection of children during war and conflict as one key principles of international humanitarian and human rights law. The assaults on Gaza, following the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, have resulted in shocking violations of children’s human rights. Two factors make Gaza an extraordinary example of such breaches of international law. First, the depth and extent of rights violations and the pain and destruction to which children are being subjected. Second, that those violations are playing out in full view of the world through both traditional and social media. In this paper, we provide a narrative review, showing the extent to which children’s basic needs and human rights have been violated. We then undertake a socio-ecological analysis of the extent to which socio-ecosystems that can support children have been damaged. We argue that the failure of international action to protect children in Gaza is more egregious because violations have been live-streamed around the world and carried out in full view of a global audience. Moreover, while the violations against children in Gaza represent breaches of those children’s human rights and cast doubt over the ability and preparedness of the international community to protect children’s human rights anywhere.