Their paintings and drawings range from a portrait of an esteemed Palestinian poet and family members killed in conflict, to a sky blackened by thick smoke – and a child crying in front of his mother’s corpse.

The poignant images are currently on display at UNRWA’s Remal School in Gaza City, which has been transformed into a shelter.

Remembrance and loss

The exhibition provides an opportunity for the children and young people to express and discuss their feelings after nearly 18 months of war.

Fatima al-Za’anin, who was displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, cried as she spoke about her artwork. “I painted the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, I drew mama, baba, my sister and my grandfather,” she said.

Fatima stopped talking to cry once more and turned to a small pencil drawing peppered with red spots. “I drew martyrs’ bodies that were torn to pieces,” she explained.

She pointed to another drawing of a boy called Mohammed “who wished he had one person left in his family, but there was no one left,” she said. “I painted a child who lamented his mother, whom he had lost.”

A specialist from the UNRWA Psychological Support Centre stood beside Fatima and praised her courage in expressing her feelings.

Praying for comfort

Na’emat Haboob, a 17-year-old student, touched one of her paintings as she spoke about it. The image is of the face of her mother, who was killed in the war. 

“This is mama’s painting.  Thank God I could draw it while I’m trying to get over losing her.  I hope everyone will pray for her.” 

Na’emat continued to run her fingers over the painting as if she wanted to touch her mother’s face and said: “May God grant me comfort for losing her and my siblings.”

May God grant me comfort for losing her and my siblings

She credited the mental health team at the Remal shelter for their support, saying it gave her the strength to turn her pain into art. 

Her grief welled up again and she was unable to go on. Comforted by a hug from the counsellor, she was able to continue, saying the psychological support she receives at the shelter enables her to keep studying. 

“I seek to develop my talents after what I’ve been through during the war,” she said. “I want to try hard to be what my mother wished for me.”

Malak Fayad, a displaced from Beit Hanoun (Gaza) shares the meaning behind her artwork with fellow displaced visitors, using art as a way to express her experiences, resilience, and hope amid the devastation of war.

Lives transformed, hopes destroyed

Another student, Malak Fayyad, stood in front of her colourful paintings. One depicts the clear blue sky and sea of Gaza, showing birds, trees and landscapes. It is a copy of a work she had previously painted which hung proudly on a wall in her family’s home. 

But the house was destroyed along with all their belongings, including the painting.

“I painted it again to remember Gaza as it was, and next to it another painting clouded by black smoke from weapons,” Malak said, before highlighting other works she created, including one which “shows how our lives have been transformed after the destruction and bombing.”

Another of her paintings depicts a Palestinian man who appears to be carrying a bag in the form of a house. She said it “shows that the Palestinian always carries with him the Palestinian cause, even when he is displaced and forced to leave his home.”

The war in Gaza has destroyed hopes of a better future, according to another young artist, Malak Abu Odeh.  

“Not only displacement and destruction, but the war has taken away from us our dearest people, our relatives and loved ones,” she said.

“We’re not well, but I would like to thank the mental health team who are trying to entertain us, help us and support us.”

Commitment to deliver

UNRWA continues to provide psychosocial support services across the Gaza Strip. The agency said its teams responded to around 3,000 cases between 21 and 27 April. 

This support included individual counselling, awareness-raising sessions and response to gender-based violence cases in its health centres, medical points and shelters. 

Nearly 20,000 people – mainly traumatized women and children – have reached Chad in the past two weeks, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

“Most arrived in Chad with nothing – no food, money or identification,” said Magatte Guisse, UNHCR Representative in Chad. “Several wounded individuals, including children and elderly women, reportedly fell from vehicles during the chaotic escape.”

Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world and already hosts 1.3 million refugees.

This includes nearly 800,000 people from Sudan since war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, after a breakdown in transition to civilian rule.  

Heavy fighting in Sudan has devastated much of the country, likely killed tens of thousands and displaced almost nine million people, UN agencies say.

No food, no money

In Chad, the Tine border crossing in Wadi Fira Province has seen the sharpest spike in new arrivals, with more than 6,000 people in just two days,

Sudanese refugees are exposed to robbery and extortion at checkpoints – and many have also witnessed men being killed, women and girls sexually abused, and homes burned to the ground.

The refugee agency reported that armed groups have extorted, robbed or sexually assaulted around 76 per cent of the newly arrived refugees.

A nation of 19 million people where resources are already strained, Chad is overstretched and needs “increased solidarity and immediate funding, to ensure these vulnerable populations receive the protection and assistance they need, now”.

Renewed attacks on Port Sudan 

In a related development, a third day of drone strikes hit the international airport and a power station in Port Sudan, the UN’s humanitarian hub for coordinating aid operations across Sudan.

The city is the current seat of government and until this weekend had been largely spared from the violence that is ongoing in Khartoum, Darfur and elsewhere. Thousands of people fleeing the war have also sought shelter in Port Sudan.

“Port Sudan airport is a lifeline for humanitarian operations, serving as the primary entry point for aid personnel, medical supplies and other lifesaving relief that is coming into Sudan,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. The airport is “immensely important”, he told journalists in Geneva.

According to reports, the Red Sea city suffered a complete power outage after drone strikes hit a large power station on Tuesday. Other strikes reportedly hit an army base in the city centre, a fuel depot and a hotel close to the airport, which is located near the presidential palace.

These attacks have increased the “already severe” lack of aid access and delivery challenges facing humanitarian teams across the country, explained Mr. Laerke, adding that such violence is prohibited under international humanitarian law. 

Compounding civilian suffering

In a statement released later in the day the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said that the attacks “will deepen humanitarian suffering and needs, as well as exacerbate the already severe access and logistical challenges that humanitarian actors face in the delivery of urgently needed aid to the rest of the country.“

It is widely believed that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are responsible for the attacks. No UN facilities or operations have been impacted but UN Humanitarian Air Service flights in and out of the city have been paused.

“It appears to be a deliberate attempt to weaponize the aid and we have warned against that for a very long time. Aid should be provided based on humanitarian need to whomever needs it,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for UN aid coordination office, OCHA.

Speaking in Geneva, Mr. Laerke referred to a verbal brief delivered by Israeli authorities on Monday, in which they offered to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the military, once the Government reopens crossings into Gaza.

The proposal came as part of Israel’s plans to expand its military offensive against Hamas, including the “capture” of the Gaza Strip and a reported comment by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Palestinian territory will be “entirely destroyed”.

Attempted ‘shut down’ of UN aid system

“Israeli officials have sought to shut down the existing aid system run by 15 UN agencies and 200 NGOs and partners,” Mr. Laerke maintained.

The Israeli cabinet’s vow to escalate the war will force Gaza’s more than two million people to move to the south of the Strip once again.

After 19 months of conflict, the entire enclave has suffered the impact of the months-long border blockade.

The Israeli decision to cut off the entry of humanitarian supplies to the enclave is reportedly to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages taken in Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October 2023 that sparked the war.

Humanitarians have condemned the border closures stating the policy violates international law and risks fuelling famine.

Today in Gaza, UN partners working in the food sectors have distributed all they had and have no more to give. Mr. Laerke reported testimonies of colleagues on the ground who observed “people rummaging through garbage, trying to find something edible. That is the harsh, brutal, inhuman reality of the situation.”

Grave health impact

Since the beginning of 2025, nearly 10,000 children with global acute malnutrition have been admitted for outpatient and inpatient treatment, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). That number includes 1,397 with severe acute malnutrition.

“Once you get to that stage, without treatment, you will die,” warned Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the UN health agency.

The WHO official noted that fewer children are being treated in partially functioning hospitals than expected, most probably because they cannot access care.

According to WHO data, one in five children does not complete their treatment because of the displacement and chaotic situation they face.

The lack of water and sewage infrastructure is also causing a worrying spike in acute watery diarrhoea. Skin diseases are also on the rise because people simply do not have enough water to wash themselves.

Meanwhile, Mr. Laerke continued to call on all combatants and those involved in mediation to continue pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.

“It is a horrible crime of war to take hostages and use them as some kind of bargaining chip,” he said. “On the other hand, you [cannot also] withhold aid to civilians as a bargaining chip on the other side of the board game.”