- Letters from Palestinian children, including the Palestinian Children’s Council President, handed to the new Prime Minister calling for an urgent ceasefire and end to the violence in Gaza.
- The Prime Minister’s recent call for a ceasefire comes as new polling shows six in ten (59%) of the British public agrees and of them, 60% believe it should happen immediately.
- Christian Aid, which is providing aid in Gaza, is urging the Prime Minister to make a statement to Parliament, and Richard Sewell, Dean of St George's College in Jerusalem, says there is “no time to lose for the new UK Government.”
Letters from children in Gaza have been handed to 10 Downing Street today by international development charity Christian Aid as part of a renewed appeal for an immediate ceasefire, halt to arms sales to Israel and denounce the de facto annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank.
In a heartbreaking letter to the Prime Minister, the Palestinian Children’s Council President, Mais Abdel Hadi, warns children in Gaza live in a “constant state of fear and anxiety, with shells accompanying us around the clock...”, and asks, “why must we children pay such a horrendous price?”
Mais, 15, is displaced with her family in Khan Younis Governorate. They have lost their home and belongings, and Mais warns “psychological wounds worsen, and physical suffering increases”.
Hala Abu Saleem, 16, is also displaced after bombing severely damaged her home. “I should now be preparing for my final and most important year of school, but instead, I help my mother light the fire to cook what little food we have, food that doesn't even fill us,” she tells the Prime Minister in her letter.
Christian Aid, a charity that has worked the poorest and most vulnerable people in the Middle East since the early 1950s, is urging the Prime Minister to make a statement to Parliament to signaling unequivocal support for upholding international humanitarian law and announce an immediate surge in operational support for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
While Starmer has set out the “clear and urgent need for a ceasefire”, the children’s passionate pleas underline the desperate need for an immediate end to hostilities, Christian Aid said. Recent polling by Savanta, commissioned by the UK charity found six in ten (59%) of Brits believe the new UK Government should call for a ceasefire in Gaza and of them, 60% believe it should happen immediately.
When UK adults read or listen to news reports about the war in Gaza, the same set of polling shows they feel hopeless (20%), anxious (16%) and ashamed (14%). Less than two in five (17%) felt the war did not affect them.
Reverend Claire Whitmore from Christians for Palestine, who joined Christian Aid in handing the letters in to 10 Downing Street, said: “These letters from Gazan children offer a glimpse of the horrendous situation there. I hope and pray that the Prime Minister will read and reflect on their words and take swift action to address the crisis.”
Christian Aid’s Head of Middle East Policy & Advocacy, William Bell, added: “Only an immediate ceasefire, the respect of international humanitarian law, humanitarian access and the release of hostages can stop the suffering across Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
“The former Government has placed the UK at risk of complicity in serious violations of international law due to its failure to halt arms sales to Israel. The new UK Government must right this wrong and make that clear to Parliament, including denouncing the de facto annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank. Young Palestinians are counting on Kier Starmer’s urgent intervention.”
Basel Sourani, from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Christian Aid’s partner in Gaza, said: “It is imperative for the UK Government to reconsider its stance and take a firm stand against these atrocities. Mais’s heartfelt plea underscores the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire and the rebuilding of Gaza. The UK must heed these calls and work towards providing the necessary psychological and educational support to help the children of Gaza rebuild their lives and futures.”
The Very Revd Canon Richard Sewell, Dean of St George's College in Jerusalem, added: “The voices of these young Palestinians from Gaza must not be ignored. Their cry for an end to the horrific destruction is a plea for humanity to prevail over brutality. Only by ending the violence can a peaceful pathway to justice begin to emerge. There is no time to lose for the new UK Government.”
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, and as reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and over 85,000 more have been injured since the escalation of violence last October.
Christian Aid’s local Palestinian partners are delivering vital aid including food and medical assistance to children, women and men across Gaza. This includes building mobile bathrooms in four shelters and working with local farmers to get fresh vegetables for families who have left their homes to escape airstrikes. To donate to their emergency appeal, visit www.christianaid.org.uk.
ENDS.
Notes to editors:
Please see photos attached of letters authors and Downing Street delivery. (Credit: Christian Aid).
From left to right for Christian Aid: Ray Hasan, Christian Aid, International Programme Director and Reverend Claire Whitmore from Christians for Palestine.
More photos of Downing Street event available on request.
A note on methodology:
Savanta interviewed 2,197 UK adults online from 28th June to 1st July 2024. Data were weighted to be nationally representative of UK adults by age, gender, region, working status and social grade. Savanta is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Datasets available on request.
Letter 1 to the Prime Minister:
Dear Prime Minister,
In my capacity as the President of the Palestinian Children’s Council and on behalf of all the children in Gaza, I address you, esteemed Prime Minister.
We write to you with hearts full of sorrow and spirits crushed by the daily suffering inflicted upon us by the brutal war.
We live in a constant state of fear and anxiety, with shells accompanying us around the clock, reaping lives, sparing only those fortunate enough to survive. Destruction and devastation surround us on all sides. Our question is: why must we children pay such a horrendous price?
The child protection laws that your country helped establish have not been applied to us. They have not considered our childhood, despite claiming to be its protectors, alongside many other countries.
We wake up every day to the sound of bombs and rockets, with no safe place to seek refuge. This violent war has taken our homes, schools, families, relatives, friends and classmates. It has forced us to sleep in poor tents and in the open air, our bodies scorched by the sun during the day and deprived of sleep at night due to constant airstrikes and random shelling.
We need your support and urgent intervention to end this tragedy.
We demand an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of peace because we, the children of Palestine, deserve to live in safety and peace. We also urge you to work on rebuilding our schools and hospitals that have been destroyed and to provide the necessary psychological and educational support so we can regain our lives and futures.
Stop the death by starvation, the killing by denying medicine, and the destruction of health centres. Bring back life through songs, poems and music. We are children who hope for a dignified life and do not wish for anyone to suffer.
Save our lives, dreams and rights, and preserve our childhood. We are not just numbers or news in media reports; we are living souls, carrying hope in our hearts, awaiting your swift and effective action.
Thank you for listening to our suppressed cries and for your efforts to bring justice and peace to Gaza.
Mais Abdel Hadi
Palestinian Children’s Council President
Palestinian Children’s Council President
Letter 2 to the Prime Minister:
Dear Prime Minister,
Despite the pain, I send you my greetings and regards. I am Hala Abu Saleem, a child from Gaza.
Dear Prime Minister, will my hand grow back? Or am I condemned to live without an arm?
I am not a terrorist to be exterminated. I am not a terrorist for my house to be destroyed and my family killed. I am not a terrorist to live in a tent that is scorching during the day and freezing at night, unfit even for animals!
I should now be preparing for my final and most important year of school. But instead, I help my mother light the fire to cook what little food we have, food that doesn't even fill us. My tears should be falling from fear of exams or the difficulty of the curriculum. My tears did fall, Prime Minister, but from the fire’s smoke, that almost blinded me.
Prime Minister, may I ask how you started your new year in 2024?
Yes, of course, you started it with celebrations, watching a wonderful movie with your family, and a cake adorned with glowing candles.
Like you Prime Minister, I also started it with glowing candles. But my candles are a bit larger than yours. These candles destroyed and burned our neighbour’s house, terrified us, and killed more than 16 people, including six children, Prime Minister. These candles displaced us from our homes, burned our dreams, and scattered us!
It's time for you to bear the consequences of your mistakes from over a century ago.
End the occupation. Stop the genocide!
Hala Abu Saleem
NB Hala is talking metaphorically about her hand.
