Gaza children spend another summer on survival chores

Children in Gaza are spending a third summer of war doing chores essential to survival rather than going to camps or playing, Al Jazeera reported from Gaza City. Mothers interviewed by the outlet said the lack of safe activities, school routines and basic supplies is worsening the strain on children already living through displacement and loss.

Al Jazeera reported that since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, more than 73,000 people have been killed, including thousands of children. The outlet said most of Gaza’s population has been displaced and much of the enclave’s building stock has been damaged or destroyed.

In western Gaza City, 35-year-old Faten Nabhan is sheltering with six school-age children in a partly ruined building, according to Al Jazeera. The family’s day starts with water containers, food collection and other tasks tied to staying alive.

Nabhan told Al Jazeera that she tries to give her children something useful or enjoyable to do during the school break, but has almost nothing to work with. She said toys, notebooks, crayons, paper and pens are unavailable to her, leaving Quran memorisation as one of the only structured activities she can manage.

Children carrying adult burdens

Al Jazeera reported that Nabhan’s husband, Raafat, was killed in an Israeli air attack on the family’s home in Jabalia refugee camp in October 2024. Since then, she said, her children have taken turns fetching water, finding firewood and helping with daily tasks.

Nabhan told the outlet she can barely cover food and basic needs. She said she feels grief watching her children spend a period meant for play under the weight of responsibility.

She also said she knew of no community or institutional programmes in the displacement camps offering children psychological support during the summer holiday. In her account to Al Jazeera, even ordinary play has become out of reach.

The problem matches concerns raised by UNICEF. In a May assessment cited by Al Jazeera, the UN children’s agency said young children in Gaza lack safe, stimulating settings needed for early development, while older children face long interruptions to learning and few chances for social or psychological recovery without targeted support.

Jonathan Crickx, UNICEF’s chief of communications in Palestine, said in February that play is essential for Gaza’s children, according to Al Jazeera. He described it as a way for children to regain part of what war has taken from them.

A rare camp day

Al Jazeera also interviewed 41-year-old Asmaa Saleh, a displaced mother of five whose children range in age from eight to 17. Saleh said she has tried to keep education alive during repeated moves in search of safety.

Saleh told the outlet that all of her children are memorising Quran verses, and that two have secured places at a summer camp run by a local charity. The camp meets once a week.

That single day changes the mood at home, Saleh said. She told Al Jazeera the children wake early, prepare eagerly and sometimes skip breakfast so they will not be late.

The rest of the week follows a harsher pattern, according to Saleh: waking, eating and helping inside the tent with washing, cooking, kneading dough and carrying water. Saleh, who previously worked with UNICEF as a case manager, said organised group activities support emotional growth, cooperation and attachment, while confinement in the tent can feed tension among siblings.

Saleh said one daughter who does not attend the camp shows more signs of stress and conflict with her siblings, while the daughters who do attend return happier. She told Al Jazeera she recently received crayons and drawing paper from a charity and now sits with her children to draw during the day.

For Saleh, even an hour of guided play can shift the children’s mood. She told Al Jazeera that Gaza’s children are being denied basic rights to play and education at the time they most need them.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.