【Gaza Crisis Urgent Appeal】Conflict and Famine Escalate – Children Urgently Need Your Support
Last update: 19/09/2025
The ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel, now approaching its second year, has triggered a profound humanitarian crisis. One in ten Palestinians has been killed or injured, with total casualties surpassing 200,000. Of which, the death toll in Gaza has reached 65,000, including more than 20,000 children.
This devastation extends far beyond loss of life, displacing 1.9 million people amid relentless safety threats. Essential resources such as food, water, electricity, and fuel are critically scarce, drastically limiting living conditions. Recent military escalations have compelled even more families to flee their homes. In sweltering heat, countless individuals have endured gruelling journeys on foot; women and the elderly, often carrying injured children, have walked barefoot for up to nine hours in desperate pursuit of safety.
Compounding the violence, famine has emerged as another critical threat. Restricted humanitarian access has entrenched chronic food insecurity across Gaza. Since March this year, aid deliveries have been severely obstructed, intensifying an already dire situation.
On 22 August 2025, the United Nations declared famine in Gaza for the first time. Currently, over 500,000 people face ‘catastrophic’ hunger, a figure that could rise beyond 640,000, signalling the brink of widespread fatalities. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) by United Nations, famine occurs when at least 20% of households face extreme food shortages; at least 30% of children under five are acutely malnourished; and at least two in ten thousand people per day are dying from starvation or related causes.
The UN declared famine in Gaza on 22 August 2025, endangering countless children and families.
Over 10,000 Children Severely Malnourished, Lives Hanging by a Thread
More than one in three people (39%) report going days without food, households are starving, some resorting to grass and animal feed for survival. Child malnutrition rates in Gaza are surging alarmingly. World Health Organization (WHO) data reveals that in July alone, over 12,000 children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition – the highest monthly total on record and a sixfold increase since the year began.
Newborns are succumbing to malnutrition before they can even be named. Parents chose to starve themselves and allocate the very scarce food to their children, but still, some had to witness their children suffering helplessly. Starvation ranks among the most agonising ways to die: without sufficient nutrition, one can only survive for a few weeks. Children deprived of vital nutrients grow weak and exhausted, eventually losing their lives. Survivors often endure dehydration, stunted development, and permanent organ damage.
Severe food shortages grip the Gaza Strip, where many adults forgo meals to ensure their children can eat.
Famine Ravages Gaza: Children Yearn for Heaven Just to Find Food
Dr Kanie Siu, CEO of Plan International Hong Kong, expressed profound sorrow over the crisis “Countless children and women in Gaza endure unimaginable hardship every day. They suffer the pangs of hunger, growing too weak to walk or sleep. Even more heartbreaking, some children have told their parents, ‘I want to go to heaven, simply because there’s food there.’ Starvation, bereavement, and displacement have become the grim reality for innumerable children. Women live in constant fear of sexual violence, which is deeply alarming. Plan International urgently calls for a complete and permanent ceasefire. Equally vital is the full opening of humanitarian corridors to guarantee unimpeded aid delivery, enabling innocent families and children to access food and reclaim hope.”
The Crisis Worsens Rapidly: Your Urgent Support Can Save Children’s Lives
In recent months, humanitarian corridors have finally reopened on a limited basis in Gaza. With the support of global donors. Since the end of July this year, Plan International’s Egypt office has successfully dispatched 10 trucks to rapidly deliver food, clean water, and other supplies to Gaza. Furthermore, our Jordan office is working closely with local partners in Gaza to provide emergency assistance to families. Since the reopening of humanitarian access, our emergency relief efforts in Gaza have benefited over 110,000 people.
Specifically, we provided 92,650 individuals with food, including hot meals and food baskets (containing rice, pasta, flour, tuna, cheese etc.); and provided clean water to 18,322 people.
Beyond essential medicines and supplies for 1,500 patients, we have provided recreational and trauma care activities for 167 girls and adolescents. Additionally, 6 temporary learning spaces are open.
As the hunger crisis deteriorates, Plan International is committed to scaling up its assistance, ensuring that more children and families receive essential basics like food and water. Your ongoing support is crucial for accelerating emergency deliveries and preserving lives. We also urge authorities to enact an immediate, permanent ceasefire and fully open aid routes for seamless supply flow.
In this escalating humanitarian catastrophe, countless innocent children are on the edge of survival daily. Your donation could mean a meal for a child – or even a saved life.
Please extend a helping hand and support our emergency relief efforts in Gaza immediately.
Details of the project are as follows:
- Donate HK$600：Provide 1-week food basket for 1 household
- Donate HK$1,000：Provide 1-week food basket and 1 safe water kit (including water purifying tablets, Oral Rehydration Salt, buckets and cups) for 1 household
- Donate HK$1,500：Provide 1-week food basket, 1 safe water kit (including water purifying tablets, Oral Rehydration Salt, buckets and cups) and 1 dignity hygiene kit (including soaps, sanitary products, toothpaste, towel, hairbrush, hand sanitiser, flashlight and whistle) for 1 household
- Donate HK$3,000：Provide 1-week food basket, 2 safe water kits (including water purifying tablets, Oral Rehydration Salt, buckets and cups) and 2 dignity hygiene kits (including soaps, sanitary products, toothpaste, towel, hairbrush, hand sanitiser, flashlight and whistle) for 2 households
- DonateHK$5,000：Provide 1-week food basket and 5 safe water kits (including water purifying tablets, Oral Rehydration Salt, buckets and cups) for 5 households
Donation Methods:
1.Online Donation:
ONE-OFF DONATION DAILY HK$2 SUPPORT PLAN WITH CHILDREN2. Bank Transfer*: Please make a direct deposit into HSBC account #640-068318-838
3. Crossed Cheque* : Please make a cheque payable to “Plan International Hong Kong Limited”
4. Cash Donation via Circle K, VanGO or U Select*
Please visit any Circle K or VanGO in Hong Kong and present the barcode to make a cash donation (Each transaction cannot exceed HK$5,000)
5. AlipayHK*: Please scan the below QR code to make a donation on AlipayHK
6. PayMe Donation: Please scan the QR code below to donate and enter your information (English name, telephone number and email address) and state “26UNID001 – GHCA” in PayMe message box
* Please send the original bank receipt/ crossed cheque/ Circle K or VanGO original receipt/ a screenshot of the mobile donation transaction details together with your name, telephone number and email address to Plan International Hong Kong by mail or email. Please mark “26UNID001 – GHCA”. (Email: [email protected] / Address: 21/F, 9 Chong Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong)
Disclaimer: Plan International is independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations. Please note that any donations received that exceed what is required to support this emergency will be directed to other areas with the greatest humanitarian needs, helping assist more children facing global crises and conflicts
