Palestine: Emergency response
Palestine - Gaza, Palestine
Palestine
SOS Children’s Villages in Palestine
SOS Children’s Villages Palestine is a non-governmental, humanitarian and non-profitable organisation created in 1966. Its work starts with the prevention of family breakdown. It tries to keep families together through its family strengthening programme that offers a range of services to enable families to become financially independent and not find themselves obliged to abandon their children. If this is impossible, the organisation provides alternative care in an SOS Children´s Village.
In that sense, it helps children and young people who lost parental care through alternative family care to grow up with the bonds they need to become their strongest selves until independence. The organisation partners with governments, corporations, individuals and institutions to have the most significant possible impact on the lives of children, youth and families.
It expanded its work on the ground to protect children and families in emergencies. Children and young people are most vulnerable in humanitarian crises. Those who lack adequate parental care face even greater risks of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
SOS Children’s Villages Palestine is part of SOS Children’s Villages International, our global federation which operates in over 136 countries and territories worldwide. In 1966, SOS Children’s Villages was established in Palestine, and the Bethlehem village was constructed in 1968.
The SOS Children’s Village in Bethlehem currently accommodates 87 children in 14 houses, making it the first SOS village in the Middle East. Additionally, the SOS Children’s Village in Rafah was founded in 2000, but unfortunately, it was destroyed in May 2024 during the war on Gaza.
An SOS camp was established in Khan Younes to accommodate children, while 68 were evacuated from the village in Rafah before its destruction to Bethlehem in March 2024. Currently, the SOS workers in Palestine are still operating from the camp in Khan Younes to protect and care for separated children or orphans.
The children’s village in Rafah was evacuated in May 2024 as the escalating violence made it increasingly unsafe for the children. SOS Children’s Villages staff, unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) and internally displaced families relocated in a tent encampment established by SOS Children’s Village Rafah in Khan Younis. It hosts a total of 151 individuals, including 41 UASCs, 5 children in long term alternative care, 11 caregivers, and 19 employees with their families. After the ceasefire made it safe to travel in January 2025, the children’s village in Rafah was found completely destroyed.
The ongoing military operations, continued displacement, and the limited safe zones have made everyday survival increasingly difficult, particularly for children. Access to basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care, and education remains severely restricted. The destruction of infrastructure and limited humanitarian corridors have left communities isolated and at risk. The organization’s work goes far beyond meeting basic needs — it includes psychosocial support, trauma care, family tracing, and child-friendly services.