The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported Friday that on average one Palestinian child has been killed every day for more than eight months in Gaza since a so-called 'ceasefire' with Israel was announced.
UNICEF described the truce as a 'cruel and deadly illusion' as the Israeli regime continues to attack the besieged enclave. At least 265 Palestinian children have been killed since October 2025, when the halt in hostilities was declared, the agency said.
'During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months,' UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva. 'While the world continues to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continue to bury their sons and daughters.'
Elder said children had been killed in homes, schools and public spaces, including while playing football or fishing. He cited recent cases: 'This week: a 2-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces; a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed inside his tent; a 5-year-old boy and his father were killed by an Israeli strike, and on and on it goes.'
According to UNICEF, more than 400 children have also been injured since October, many with devastating wounds. Elder highlighted cases of a 12-year-old girl shot in the chest inside her tent and a three-year-old girl shot in the face by a bullet from a quadcopter drone while inside her home.
Elder warned that hundreds of children urgently need medical evacuation, while Israeli regime restrictions on essential medicines are increasing the risk of infections, complications and amputations among wounded children. 'For Gaza's children, fear, loss and violence have become so constant that trauma is no longer an episode in their lives – it is woven into the very fabric of their childhood,' he said.
He urged governments and international institutions to act, saying continued child deaths during a ceasefire should alarm anyone committed to international law. Elder also pointed to Lebanon, where UNICEF said 247 children have been killed and 992 injured since hostilities escalated on March 2.
The warning came as an Israeli regime air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Palestinian health authorities said Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 73,018 Palestinians and wounded 173,273 since October 7, 2023.
Source: www.aljazeera.com