A Palestinian woman carries the shrouded body of her infant killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza, 19 December. Abed Rahim Khatib

You may have already seen the news of the young father in Gaza who went to get birth certificates for his newborn twins. When Mohamed returned to the apartment where his family had sought shelter, he learned that his four-day-old twins Aser and Aysal were murdered by an Israeli airstrike, along with their mother and grandmother. If you’ve seen a video about this, you heard his screams and saw the absolute agony in the father’s face.

Just a few days earlier, Israel bombed a school shelter when people were gathered for morning prayers and killed dozens of children and adults. Loved ones had to collect body parts in plastic bags.

Israel has killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza in the last ten months. 2,100 of the children killed were infants and toddlers under the age of two. Thousands of others have been orphaned, injured, and permanently disabled. Some have lost their legs before they have even taken their first steps. They are deprived of food and water. Undernourished mothers cannot breastfeed, and baby formula is nearly impossible to get. A recent Save the Children report says the 20,000 children are completely unaccounted for. They are under the rubble, lost, or taken by Israeli soldiers.

Every one of these children are mourned by their surviving family. But the survivors barely have a moment to grieve They are trying to protect their other children, find food, shelter, and care for other sick and wounded among their families, friends, and neighbors.

I know you are aware of how hard MECA’s team in Gaza is working under the most desperate and dangerous circumstances. (You can see a summary of our emergency response here.) Every one of MECA’s staff, partners, and volunteers has suffered terrible losses and are themselves struggling to stay safe when there is no real safety anywhere in Gaza.

With your support and solidarity, MECA’s incredibly resourceful people on the ground in Gaza continue, day after day, to bring food, water, and whatever else they can find to children and families in their own communities. Recently, MECA began a project to set up two nutrition clinics with one of our longtime partner organizations. The clinics treat malnourished children. Just one example of the ways they are constantly looking for—and finding—ways to help children survive this genocide.

The rate that Israel is killing infants, toddlers, and children is unprecedented in the history of modern wars. The survivors have so many urgent needs but, most of all, they need you to help them survive and continue to do everything you can to stop the slaughter and siege. Please take action now.

In solidarity,
All of us at MECA