About 68 per cent of households in Gaza experience severe or moderate levels of food insecurity, and the unemployment rate increased from 44 per cent in 2017 to 52 per cent in 2018.[1] In an increasingly destabilized economy and weakened social fabric, families’ resilience capacities are increasingly eroded, and the vulnerability of certain groups, particularly children, is exacerbated. Child labour, including children engaging in hazardous occupations, has become a commonly used mechanism to alleviate poverty and secure daily expenses.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), approximately 4,840 out of 372,600 children aged 10 to 17 were involved in full-time labour in Gaza in 2018. Additionally, 1,490 children aged 10 to 17 were working while attending school. In total, two per cent of Gaza children aged 10 to 17 were employed on a full-time or part-time basis in 2018. The true percentage is expected to be higher, given that the number of children under the age of 10 engaged in child labour is unknown.

The majority of families with working children live below the poverty line.[2] Such families have a higher than average number of family members, and have high unemployment rates among both parents. Working children in Gaza are mainly employed in commerce, restaurant services and agriculture. Children are also engaged in more dangerous occupations such as collecting gravel, spraying pesticides and in construction/demolition work. Most child workers work five hours a day for an average of NIS 100 (US$28) per month.[3]

The deteriorating socio-economic situation in Gaza has a negative impact on children’s rights and their ability to access education at school and in the home, manifested in school drop-outs. According to PCBS, two per cent of students dropped out of school in Gaza in the 2016/2017 school year. These children are at heightened risk of child labour and/or of participating in life-threatening activities, thereby increasing the demands on protection services that are already overstretched in Gaza.

https://www.ochaopt.org/content/child-labour-increasing-gaza

Miért nem adnak munkát, v. hoznak létre munkahelyeket a környező ország arabjai a gázzai palesztin felnőtteknek? Talán azért, hogy ők azok lehessenek kiszolgálói bizonyos érdekeknek? A gyerekek pedig egyszerűen, pénzért természetesen, fegyverhordozók.