As children pay highest price for Gaza conflict, global protests on the rise

Most moments in war are marked by suffering. But some are etched with such cruelty that they leave a permanent scar on humanity.

During a humanitarian mission to Gaza, amid the rubble of a bombed school there, 12-year-old Omsiyat—a bright, curious child—looked up at this writer and asked a question that pierced through the smoke and sorrow: “Why are children made to suffer in wars?” This writer had no answer.

Children never start wars. But they suffer its cruellest consequences.

Children hit worst

In Gaza, war has rewritten the fate of children—brutally and irrevocably. Since October 2023, an average of 27 children have been killed every day—a full school bus of dreams extinguished.

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Depending on where you are in the world, you may have just dropped your child off at the school bus, or perhaps you are walking them home. Imagine a bus with 27 children on it—now imagine that entire bus never returning and children in it ending up graveyard instead of being welcomed at home. Every single day.

In 615 days, the war has killed over 17,000 children and thousands sustained life-altering injuries Not one of them started this war. Yet they have paid the highest price. They deserve more than survival. They deserve dignity and safety. A future where they can fly kites, go to school, and hold their friends’ hand without fear.

Vigil for children in Canberra

In 24 hours between July 22 and 23, outside the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, a quiet but powerful vigil unfolded. For an entire day, under harsh winter rain and biting cold, humanitarians, human rights activists, and ordinary people stood together—not to protest, but to remember. To honour the children of Gaza. To speak their names. To bear witness.

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Each speaker read names from a book that spans more than 400 pages. Page after page, name after name. Infants marked as “0”—babies who never reached their first birthday.

On each page, 42 names – of children who were meant to be artists, teachers, journalists, peacemakers.

Futures have been stolen.

“We speak the names of Gaza’s children to keep our humanity alive. We stand not just as humanitarians, but as fellow humans demanding action—because time is running out, and silence is complicity,” said Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International Australia. Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

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The vigil in Canberra was organised jointly by human rights groups and humanitarian agencies such as Amnesty International, Plan International, Oxfam, Save the Children, Child Fund, MAA International, ActionAid, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières and Caritas.

Weight of grief

As one stood at that podium—reading names, ages, lives abruptly ended—one felt the unbearable weight of grief. Not just one's own. But of mothers in Gaza forced to choose which child to feed. Of doctors operating without anaesthetic. Of uncles and fathers digging through rubble with their bare hands. Of young girls waiting weeks for clean water, unable to bathe with dignity.

This war has not spared anyone. But it has punished Gaza’s children the most. Bombs are not the only killers. Hunger now stalks them. Starvation—a slow, deliberate death—is being used as a weapon of war.

This writer has seen it in hospitals elsewhere in western capitals—medical teams evaluating their performance every 24 hours. One of the saddest moments is reading the names of children they couldn’t save. Yet they know they did everything possible, applying the best care they could afford.

Also read: Israeli strike kills 15 in Central Gaza, including 8 children

Let us be clear: this war has killed more than 58,000 people, many of them women and children. Thousands are unaccounted for, most likely buried under rubbles. It has erased homes, schools, hospitals—and an entire generation’s dreams.

Let the children live

Aid to Gaza is being blocked. A complete siege by Israeli military has turned food and medicine into bargaining chips. Imagine ordering your favourite meal in Canberra, New York or London—delivered in 40 minutes.

In Gaza, children starve while relief trucks wait just 30 minutes away at the border. Hunger and starvation are solvable problems. The aid blockade is not about logistics- we are witnessing the militarisation of humanitarian aid, a dangerous precedent.

Lives are at stake.

Recently, a six-week-old baby was among 15 people to have died of starvation in Gaza in 24 hours. The Gaza health ministry says 33 people died from malnutrition in 48 hours.

Starvation unfolds in three painful stages. It begins with skipped meals—common in war zones—followed by prolonged food deprivation when the body consumes stored fat. In the final stage, with all reserves gone, the body breaks down muscle and organs to survive, leading to death. Children grow too weak to walk, talk, or breathe.

Their immune systems collapse. This slow, preventable death is among the cruellest horrors of war—one the children of Gaza are enduring right now.

Silence has become complicity

But voices are rising.

This week, 28 countries, including Australia, France, Japan, and Denmark, have called for an immediate end to the war and the lifting of aid restrictions. They have condemned the “drip-feeding of aid” and the “inhumane killing” of civilians, including children seeking water and food. These calls are welcome, but what we need desperately is concrete action.

Starving children cannot wait another minute.

These countries are joining a long list of countries such as Ireland, South Africa, Brazil and Spain who have been calling to stop the war for a long time. But more countries must stand up and ensure we uphold the International Humanitarian Law.

More countries must choose compassion and humanity over war and politics. More leaders must be prepared to say: Not in our name. I hope it is not too late for the starving children in Gaza.

A call to stop war

The Australian vigil was not about politics. It was about humanity. About standing beside grieving families, honouring children reduced to rubble and memory, and refusing to let the world forget.

The vigil was grounded in grief and solidarity-- to mourn, to speak the names of children whose laughter will never return. And to remind ourselves that silence is not an option.

If you are asking what you can do—do not stay silent. Speak up. Bear witness. Demand justice. A thousand actions are needed—but it begins here: Call for an end to the war. Tell your government to stop sending weapons that are being used to bomb hospitals, schools, and children. Call for the immediate release of all civilian hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian children held as prisoners in Israel. Demand an end to the siege on Gaza. Demand the flow of humanitarian aid. Speak out against starvation being used as a weapon of war.

Stand with Gaza’s children. Now.

Every voice counts. Every silence enables. Because while our voices may not stop a war, our silence will surely allow it to continue.

Every child killed in war casts a silent vote of no confidence in our humanity. Even in war zones, children dare to hope. That alone should shame the world into action.

Let the names of Gaza’s children echo across every hall of power, every street, every heart. Let them not be forgotten.

Let them live. Let them dream. Let Gaza’s children fly kites again.