War in Gaza: tragic consequences when ceasefires fail
24 March 2025Humanitarian access, medical evacuations, and adherence to International Humanitarian Law could mean the difference between life and death in Gaza, blogs Dr Unni Krishnan, Plan International's Global Humanitarian Director.
A ceasefire is a ray of hope. When it collapses and guns start firing again, the true cost is human lives. Two or more parties may start a war, but children, women, and civilians suffer most. A broken truce fades hope and amplifies the horrors of war, and no child should be part of it, ever.
Since October 2023, the war in Gaza and the West Bank has killed 50,021 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis. Fourteen thousand five hundred children have died in Gaza. The war may end, but trauma and suffering will not.
A ceasefire shields homes, hospitals, schools and playgrounds. When fighting resumes, missile strikes destroy not only these sanctuaries but also lifesaving aid. Relief workers become targets: since October 2023, over 224 have been killed in Gaza. When doctors and nurses flee, they leave their own families without care.
There is only so much young minds can take
Bombardments have also shattered children’s minds. An 18-year-old in Gaza today has lived through conflicts in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021, and now since October 2023. There is only so much young minds can take. A mother in Afghanistan once told me, “War is a funeral in slow motion,” referring to her child who lost both limbs to landmines. In Gaza, renewed attacks by Israeli forces on March 18, 2025, killed 404 people — many of them children and women.
Each time a ceasefire fails, trust in peace evaporates and Gaza’s children feel abandoned.
Weapons designed for tanks devastate fragile young bodies. A study in The Lancet found that in Syria, 83% of child deaths were caused by explosive weapons, compared to just 11% by gunfire. There is no place for war in a child’s life, full stop.
Every war has unique consequences
The breakdown of ceasefires means dwindling relief, less clean water, sanitation facilities destroyed during bombings. My colleagues in Gaza have told me they often go weeks without a bath. Every war has unique consequences. Last week in Adre, a Sudanese refugee girl told me she had survived sexual violence used as a weapon of war. Such grave violations of children’s rights happen too often. War doesn’t just destroy buildings; it diminishes human dignity.
A broken ceasefire means families must flee again, grabbing only what they can carry. Mothers face impossible choices: utensils or their child’s favourite book? In Gaza, famine looms, and starvation is weaponised as war. Hunger is solvable. Starvation is human-made and avoidable.
Each time a ceasefire fails, trust in peace evaporates and Gaza’s children feel abandoned. Is a broken ceasefire just a diplomatic failure or a death sentence for children?
A permanent ceasefire and peace are the only solutions. In the meantime, humanitarian access, medical evacuations, and adherence to International Humanitarian Law could mean the difference between life and death. When schools and playgrounds become battlefields, children can’t meet their friends, play football or fly kites and childhood is lost. The world must not look away.
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