Gaza's Lost Generation: Child Labour on the Rise

In the Gaza Strip, child labour has become an increasingly common sight as displaced families try to stave off starvation. According to data from the International Labour Organisation, more than 90% of families have been pushed below the extreme poverty line, making child labour the family’s last resort to secure the cost of bread and water. Children as young as 11 years old are taking on physically demanding jobs, such as transporting heavy loads of water, collecting wood, and scavenging for plastic waste.

Aws, an 11-year-old boy, spends his days transporting water on a rickety wooden cart, earning a meager income that is barely enough to support his family. Bara’, another child labourer, pulls a water cart from 7am until sunset, earning $20 per day, which he uses to buy food for his family. The destruction of approximately 85% of school buildings has left over 625,000 pupils without access to formal education, according to the Global Education Cluster.

As a result, many children are being forced to drop out of school and enter the labour market, risking their physical and emotional well-being. UN Women reports that the loss of a family’s primary breadwinner has forced children, particularly young boys, to become their households’ first and only line of economic defence. The phenomenon of child labour in Gaza is a flagrant violation of international conventions and treaties protecting children.

Field medical officer Khalil al-Daqran notes that many children have sustained severe injuries while working on the streets, including skeletal deformities and compression of developing vertebrae, requiring urgent surgical intervention. The Gaza Mental Health Programme reports that children forced into labour are exposed to cumulative toxic stress, which causes their nervous system to operate in a constant state of emergency. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that children in Gaza face an educational crisis, with the longer a child remains out of school, the greater the risk of them permanently dropping out to enter the labour market.

I’timad al-Tahrawi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Development, expressed concern at the rise of child labour but said little could be done without providing families with a financial alternative. ‘The Ministry and its institutions have been virtually paralysed as a result of the continuous targeting of our headquarters and field staff. Monitoring and inspection teams are now unable to operate on the ground due to a lack of logistical resources, fuel and security. We cannot prevent a child who is supporting a family whose breadwinner has been killed, or who lives in extreme poverty, from working without providing them with a financial alternative.’ Martin Griffiths, former UN Under-Secretary-General, notes that the phenomenon of child labour in Gaza is a direct result of the international community’s failure to establish safe and sustainable humanitarian corridors, ensuring an adequate flow of cash and food aid to families. ’When families are left without financial support throughout three years of war, child labour becomes inevitable.

This is where the violation shifts from a local issue to an international crime resulting from the economic blockade and the destruction of infrastructure. International humanitarian law mandates that international powers provide alternative care and immediate protection for children in conflict zones. What is happening in Gaza sets a dangerous precedent for stripping an entire generation of its protection.’