This study examines the rights and needs of children and adolescents during the October 2023 Israel-Gaza war, employing an interdisciplinary framework that combines rights-based and needs-based discourses. While rights-based approaches generate awareness, they often lack effectiveness in driving evidence-based actions. To address this, the research integrates normative principles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child with empirical insights into children's needs, desires, and deficiencies during war. The study focuses on how the Convention’s protective, social, and participatory rights for children are upheld in this context, guided by the principles of equality, the best interests of the child, development, and participation.
The research investigates key normative claims, such as preventing harm to children, protecting displaced populations, ensuring continuity in education, mental health care, housing, access to information, participation in decision-making, and safeguarding freedom of expression with an emphasis on minority groups. Through the development and distribution of child-friendly questionnaires for 14-17-year-olds, as well as surveys for parents and professionals in education, social work, and mental health, the study aims to map the degree to which children's rights and needs are being fulfilled. The research sample represents a cross-section of Israeli society, including Jewish and Arab citizens as well as Palestinian residents (i.e., east Jerusalem), recent immigrants from Russia and the Ukraine, and individuals from diverse religious, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Data is collected simultaneously in Hebrew and in Arabic.
We hypothesize that significant gaps will be found between children’s rights and the state’s responses, with a particular focus on the differences in experiences based on population group and regional exposure to conflict. This study contributes to the broader understanding of how wars impact children's rights, emphasizing often-overlooked areas such as freedom of speech, fair process, and the right to access information.

With the war starting in Ukraine, new questions regarding the best interest of children emerged. The first month of the war in Ukraine has led to 1.8 million children fleeing the country to neighbouring countries. UNICEF stated that the war led to the fastest large-scale displacement of children since World War II. Europe approached their situation with unusual understanding and support. Whereas the situation of migrant children usually revolves around questions regarding their detention, age assessment, deportation, and family separation, those weren’t for the most part the main issues with children fleeing Ukraine. New issues emerged regarding how should we accommodate a large number of children coming in little time with the view of staying only temporarily. What does the best interest of a child dictate in such a situation and what are the obligations of the State regarding those children? The contribution aims to analyze what obligations towards children displaced due to the conflict in their country of origin flow from the relevant human rights treaties and how the principle of the best interest of a child is interpreted by international human rights organizations in this situation. It brings a comparative overview of how different international bodies such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the European Court of Human Rights, or UNICEF interpreted the best interest of a child principle in this specific situation of child migration and what obligations were derived from the principle. The contribution emphasizes issues encountered in Central Europe, the region the most affected by migration in relation to the war in Ukraine.