Fidel, Amir and their mother Najwa
Help give children in Palestine a safe place to play
14-year-old Fadel loved football. He decorated his family’s home in Palestine with colourful butterflies. His little brother Amir loved singing, acting and taking photos.
Then, on a quick trip to the market in Gaza City for snacks, an airstrike hit. Fadel lost both legs. Amir lost his left eye.
Now Fadel struggles to smile. When Amir sees other children playing, he goes upstairs and sleeps. “I try to keep them strong,” says their mother, Najwa, “but I am not enough.”
Fadel and Amir are not alone. Across Gaza, children are carrying trauma no child should bear, and without support, it deepens every day.
UNICEF teams have been in Gaza for decades, and have already reached 35,000 children with safe spaces where they can play and laugh with friends. These refuges from trauma provide a moment to feel like a child again. Things we take for granted here in Ireland.
From board games to group play, from drawing and story books to modelling clay, these toys and programmes help children cope with trauma, reconnect with others and begin to heal.
But thousands more need help now. Please, donate today and help us reach more children like Fadel and Amir.
Donate now
Scared children in the West Bank and Gaza need your support.
When playing football can be deadly
In Palestine’s West Bank, children need to be very careful where they kick their footballs.
“If any Palestinian kid jumps to throw back the ball, they bring the army. And he’s arrested,” a local activist told UNICEF recently.
Across the West Bank children are facing escalating violence from settlers and military forces. Over the last year, at least one child has been killed every single week.
UNICEF is in the West Bank now. Our teams are providing protection services, safe water and healthcare. When children are forced from their homes, our child protection teams are deployed within 24 to 48 hours.
We help injured children receive medical treatment and psychological support, and help children arrested and detained by Israeli forces receive legal assistance.
Just as crucially, through supporters like you, UNICEF helps children play again. We give them that escape from trauma that is essential for their education.
But thousands of children need this support now. And we can’t reach them without you.
Please donate today, and help send wheelchairs for injured children and equipment so children can smile, play and learn again.
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A boy tries out his new wheelchair provided by people like you
Why play is essential aid in Gaza and the West Bank
Imagine 100 people crowded into a space the size of a football field. That’s daily life for children in Gaza, where the population lives in just 40 percent of the available territory – a density equivalent to 100 people in an area the size of a football pitch.
Play gives children a break from the survival mode these conditions create: relief, joy and time with friends. When UNICEF asked 11,000 children what recovery should look like, a safe place to play was high on their list.
That’s why, with support from people like, UNICEF delivers play as essential aid:
- Play and Heal sessions, helping 14,835 children manage emotions and feel safe
- Safe, clean child-friendly spaces where children can just be kids
- Sports and recreation activities, from football to chess
- Over 500 wheelchairs distributed to children across Gaza
“When I play football, I feel like I’m releasing negative energy,” says Louay, 17.
You can help footballers in Palestine like him today. Your donation now can help children heal.
Donate now
Donate now to Palestine
For children in Palestine, football is more than a game – it can mean friendship, joy and a chance to simply be a child.
Other Ways to Donate
You can make a donation by phone by calling 01 878 3000, from Monday to Friday between 9:00 – 5:30pm.
You can send your donation by post to Freepost; UNICEF Ireland, 33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin D01 R283.
All donations received will go towards helping children in Palestine.