Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Call to Action for the Children of Gaza and the West Bank

Speech by Commissioner Lahbib at the Call to Action for the Children of Gaza and the West Bank

A kite.

A piece of fabric on a string, held in a child's hand, dancing in the wind. The simplest toy. The simplest joy of an ordinary childhood.

But in Gaza today, even a kite brings fear. Israel's Defence Minister has said a kite will be treated like a drone “with or without explosives.”

Think about that. A child. A string. A kite in the sky. Parents are taking the kites away, not because their children did anything wrong but because they fear what could happen to them.

That is what Palestinian children are losing. Not just their safety, but their childhood. The kite is just one symbol of a much bigger reality.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza is now squeezed into less than half of the Strip, overcrowded, unsanitary, unsafe. For children, this is heartbreaking.

Too many are going without enough food, medicine, or shelter. Too many are out of school. Denied the most basic thing a child needs: the chance to simply be a child, to grow, to learn and to live in safety.

Clean water is scarce. Sanitation is appalling. Families are living with rats. And winter is coming. We saw last year what winter does to families without a proper roof over their heads. We cannot let these children face another ice-cold winter of disease and displacement.

Despite the ceasefire in October, children are still being killed, still being injured by airstrikes and other attacks. By early August, at least 300 children were killed in the 300 days since the ceasefire was announced. One child for every single day.

In the West Bank, the situation is also getting much worse. Military operations, demolitions, movement restrictions, and settler violence that no one should accept. People are being cut off from water, from healthcare, and from their jobs. Children are being cut off from school.

The European Union and its Member States have stood with Palestinian children throughout this crisis.

We have provided nearly €700 million in humanitarian assistance, much of that directly for children, through education and mental health support. But money alone cannot open a closed crossing. Money alone cannot make a road safe for an aid convoy. And money alone cannot protect a child from a bomb.

Humanitarian aid needs humanitarian access, and access takes courage, courageous political decisions.

Our message to Israel is clear: humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza, and it must reach people fast and without obstacles. Our message to all parties is equally clear: respect international humanitarian law and protect children. These are obligations.

Now we need to turn our call into action. More food reaching hungry children. More medicine reaching hospitals. More safe shelter before winter hits. More children walking back into classrooms. Most importantly, no more parents burying their sons and daughters. That is how we will know if we have succeeded.

Palestinian children do not more sympathy. They need us to apply more pressure, so more aid reaches their families. Our responsibility to Palestinian children is simple: give them back what this war has taken. A safe, normal childhood.

And yes, maybe even a kite.