From Tunis: Palestine Calls for Urgent Arab Action to End the Use of Hunger as a Weapon, Affirms Family Protection as a National Priority
Tunis – Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs, H.E. Dr. Samah Hamad, participated in the Arab Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Second World Summit for Social Development, held on 30 June 2025 in the Tunisian capital. The meeting was organized by the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs and attended by ministers and representatives from Arab countries, as well as regional and international organizations.
In her address, Dr. Hamad delivered a powerful account of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, emphasizing that thousands of Palestinian families have been left to face famine alone amid ongoing aggression, a suffocating blockade, and near-total collapse of essential services.
She stated: "What is happening in Gaza today is a deliberate use of hunger as a weapon—to break people’s will and force them into migration or surrender." She added that children are dying from hunger and cold, deprived of food, water, and medicine, while trucks full of humanitarian aid remain stalled only meters from Gaza’s borders.
Dr. Hamad presented a comprehensive overview of the Palestinian government’s efforts to confront the catastrophe despite limited resources and complex conditions. She noted that over 350,000 households were registered in the National Social Registry, and emergency cash assistance was delivered via digital wallets in Gaza throughout 2024, with efforts underway to secure funding for 2025.
She also highlighted the launch of the National Orphans Sponsorship Program, which now covers more than 46,000 children, and the resumption of the cash transfer program in the West Bank, which has shifted to monthly payments reaching over 31,000 families, including those with persons with disabilities and in extreme poverty.
The Minister elaborated on the experience of the Governmental Operations Room, established in January 2025 to manage emergency response in the southern governorates. This platform, she said, enabled high-level coordination with international institutions and civil society, helping to systematize relief within a regionally endorsed plan—before renewed Israeli bombardment destroyed infrastructure and targeted shelter centers.
Dr. Hamad emphasized that the West Bank is also facing a worsening humanitarian situation, with escalating violence, increasing displacement, and restrictions on aid entry, compounded by Israel’s ongoing withholding of clearance revenues—an intentional strategy to paralyze the Palestinian state's ability to respond to its citizens’ needs.
She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a comprehensive approach based on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (Nexus), integrating emergency relief with recovery and long-term development. This includes digitizing social services and expanding protection for vulnerable groups, such as mental health support, education, women’s empowerment, and child protection, using targeted digital tools.
In conclusion, Dr. Hamad asserted: “Palestine needs a just partnership that safeguards the right to life. Our children are not statistics—they are the future of this land. We must all act now to protect their existence and resilience.”
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On the International Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage, MoSD Affirms: Protecting Girls Begins with Education, Protection, & Family Empowerment
Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that child marriage cannot be addressed in isolation from the broader social protection system, as it is linked to multiple factors, including poverty, school dropout, domestic violence, loss of parental care, displacement, and weakened protection networks. The Ministry explained that its role includes protecting children and girls at risk, providing case management, family interventions, psychosocial support, and referral services, and connecting families with assistance, essential services, and economic empowerment programmes. It also coordinates with relevant authorities when the safety of a child or girl is at risk. The Ministry places the best interests of the child and protection from exploitation and abuse at the heart of its child protection services. The Ministry stressed that preventing early marriage also requires protecting families from poverty and economic shocks, supporting girls' continued access to education, raising awareness of their rights, and strengthening families' ability to cope with pressures without resorting to practices that may expose girls to long-term physical, psychological, and social risks. The issue is particularly concerning in the Gaza Strip, where the Ministry warned that the loss of parental care, displacement, extreme poverty, and the declining capacity of extended families to provide care and protection increase children's vulnerability to various forms of exploitation, including early marriage. In this context, the Ministry continues to work with local and international organizations involved in child and women's protection to strengthen early intervention, referral pathways, alternative care, and psychosocial support, alongside assistance to the most vulnerable families to reduce the risk factors that may contribute to early marriage. The Ministry called for child marriage to be addressed as a child protection and human rights issue requiring coordinated action among families and social, educational, health, and legal institutions. It also called for increased investment in girls' education, protection, and empowerment to safeguard their right to grow, learn, and make decisions about their future freely and safely.
On World Children's Day, MoSD: Palestinian Children Face Harsh Realities of Loss, Displacement, Violence, & Deprivation
Ramallah – On the occasion of World Children's Day, observed annually on 20 November, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that Palestinian children are facing extremely harsh conditions amid the continuing consequences of the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and escalating attacks, displacement, home demolitions, and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. These conditions have deprived children of their lives, families, shelter, education, care, and safety. According to available United Nations data, at least 21,700 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip, while approximately 45,000 have been injured, including more than 11,000 children who have sustained life-altering injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of families continue to experience repeated displacement and deprivation of essential services. In the West Bank, including Jerusalem, children continue to face attacks, forced displacement of families, and damage to schools, homes, and infrastructure. More than 1,700 children have been displaced since the beginning of 2026 as a result of settler violence, movement restrictions, and demolitions. The Ministry stressed that the consequences of war and occupation extend beyond immediate casualties to include bereavement, family separation, hunger, school dropout, child labour, violence, exploitation, acquired disabilities, and psychological and social distress. These risks require a comprehensive and long-term child protection response. The Ministry explained that child protection is a central pillar of its work, implemented through Child Protection Departments in its directorates. These departments receive reports, assess levels of risk, provide case management and family follow-up, facilitate referrals to specialized services, and intervene in cases of violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect. Their responsibilities also include protecting children engaged in labour or begging, children who have dropped out of school, and children in conflict with the law, in coordination with relevant government authorities and partner organizations. In the Gaza Strip, children's protection and care needs have intensified significantly, particularly among orphans, children deprived of parental care, separated and unaccompanied children, and those requiring psychosocial support. In cooperation with its partners, the Ministry is working to provide alternative care, social follow-up, sponsorship programmes, psychological support, and food, health, and in-kind assistance, while strengthening and restoring child protection services across the Gaza Strip. The Ministry emphasized that protecting children is inseparable from protecting their families. Accordingly, child protection services form part of a broader social protection system encompassing food, cash, and non-food assistance, health insurance, education, school bags and stationery, psychosocial support, services for persons with disabilities, and family economic empowerment. These interventions aim to reduce the risks associated with poverty, displacement, loss of income, and family instability. The Ministry of Social Development called on the international community, United Nations agencies, humanitarian organizations, and donors to provide sustainable support for the Palestinian child protection system. It urged continued funding for alternative care programmes, orphan sponsorship, psychosocial support, education, nutrition, and rehabilitation, alongside support for Palestinian national institutions capable of reaching children and families and ensuring sustained follow-up. The Ministry concluded by emphasizing that World Children's Day cannot be merely an occasion for celebration while Palestinian children are deprived of their most fundamental rights. It stressed that protecting children begins with safeguarding their right to life and extends to ensuring their rights to family care, shelter, food, education, healthcare, protection, and social support.
