Ref: 46/2023

Date: 24 August 2023

On Thursday, 24 August 2023, the Palestine’s Children Council Secretariat – Gaza Strip had a meeting with Ms.Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteuron the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, to listen to children’s accounts about the reality of child rights in the Gaza Strip. Ms. Albanese expressed her pleasure to meet members of the Palestine’s Children Council and promised to tell their personal stories and convey their voices to the United Nations (UN) with all the beauty and energy they have despite the challenges and suffering imposed on them.

The children thanked the Special Rapporteur for giving them this opportunity to share their personal stories. These stories will be included in the report that will be written and later submitted to the UN General Assembly. The children testified before the Special Rapporteur about the deteriorating child rights situation in the oPt, especially in the Gaza Strip, and talked about the main issues they wish to be highlighted in the Special Rapporteur’s report.

During the meeting, the children talked about the impact of the Israeli-imposed closure on the Gaza Strip for 17 years and the recurrent offensives that have jeopardized all their rights, particularly their rights to education, health, freedom of movement, and their right to play. They also reviewed the deterioration of economic conditions and the high unemployment rates that have, in all, contributed to the spread of poverty, child labor, and school dropouts. Moreover, the children emphasized that the closure imposed on the Gaza Strip triggers fears of the future and forces young men to emigrate from the Gaza Strip, thereby losing their dreams and aspirations. The children concluded that this closure only serves the Israeli occupation by making Gaza as an “uninhabitable” collective prison.

As the meeting concluded, the Children of the council had recommendations to the Special Rapporteur, most notably:

1. The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to implement the international resolutions adopted during the years of the occupation.
2. Exerting pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to end the closure imposed on the Gaza Strip.
3. Allowing the Palestinian children to enjoy their right to freedom of movement and their right to education and access to universities in the West Bank.
4. Holding the Israeli perpetrators of crimes against the Palestinian people, especially children, accountable, bringing them to justice before the International Criminal Court (ICC), and compensating the victims.

At the end of the meeting, the children hoped that there will be a unified Children Council representing Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to help them in making this dream true.

It is worth noting that the Palestine’s Children Council- Gaza Strip was established by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in partnership with Save the Children in 2021. The Council is considered a voluntary body comprised of children aged 12-17 years and representing the five Gaza Strip governorates, aiming to promote the actual participation of Palestinian children in all their issues and to empower them in order to shed the light on the child rights situation and improve it.