Israel kills ‘a child a day’ on average in Gaza despite ceasefire, UN says

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UNICEF describes the truce as a “cruel and deadly illusion” as Israel continues to attack the besieged enclave. Israeli forces have killed at least 265 Palestinian children since October 2025, when the halt in hostilities was declared, UNICEF said on Friday. “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. He said the continued deaths exposed the hollowness of a ceasefire that has not protected Palestinian children from Israeli fire. “While the world continues to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continue to bury their sons and daughters,” he said. Elder said children had been killed in homes, schools and public spaces, including while playing football or fishing. “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,” he added. According to UNICEF, more than 400 children have also been injured since October, many with devastating wounds. “The suffering does not end with those killed. More than 400 children have been injured, many with catastrophic wounds,” Elder said. “You sneeze near the Orange Line and you may well get shot,” Elder maintained, referring to the “continual creeping” of Israel’s so-called “Yellow Line” and “Orange Line” boundaries of occupation. He cited recent cases involving 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 restrictions on essential medicines are increasing the risk of infections, complications and amputations among wounded children. Israel’s blockade and military restrictions have trapped children inside a devastated health system, where hospitals are struggling with shortages of medicine, fuel, staff and equipment after months of bombardment and siege, humanitarians say. Elder said the psychological toll on Gaza’s children had become unbearable, with fear and violence shaping daily life. “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. “No ceasefire can be considered meaningful while children continue to be killed,” he said. Elder also pointed to Lebanon, where UNICEF said 247 children have been killed and 992 injured since hostilities escalated on March 2. The warning on Friday came as an Israeli air strike hit a tent sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, injuring at least five people, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Palestinian health authorities said on Thursday that Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 73,018 Palestinians and wounded 173,273 since October 7, 2023. They said Israeli attacks have killed 1,007 people and wounded 3,165 since the “ceasefire” took effect on October 11, while rescue teams have recovered 784 bodies from areas that had previously been inaccessible. 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