At least 67 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since a United States-brokered ceasefire came into effect last month, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
During a news conference in Geneva on Friday, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said the fatalities included a baby girl killed on Thursday in an Israeli air strike on a home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Seven other children were killed the day before as Israel launched a series of attacks across the enclave.
“This is during an agreed ceasefire. The pattern is staggering,” Pires said, stressing that the deaths recorded since October 11 — the first full day of the truce between Israel and Hamas — reflect the continued vulnerability of children in Gaza. “As we have repeated many times, these are not statistics: Each was a child with a family, a dream, a life – suddenly cut short by continued violence.”
Children have suffered disproportionately during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. UNICEF estimated last month that 64,000 children have been killed or injured since the war began in October 2023. Save the Children reported this week that in 2024 alone, an average of 475 Palestinian children suffered lifelong disabilities every month, including traumatic brain injuries and severe burns. The group added that Gaza has become “home to the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history.”
The humanitarian crisis continues to worsen as Israel faces accusations of using starvation as a weapon of war. Aid agencies say severe food shortages have led to hunger-related child deaths, with thousands more at risk.
Renewed Strikes and Rising Civilian Toll
Israeli forces carried out another round of air strikes this week, which they said were in response to troops being fired upon in Khan Younis. Hamas denied the claim, calling the attacks — which killed at least 32 Palestinians — a “dangerous escalation” and evidence that Israel seeks to “resume the genocide” in Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported treating multiple Palestinian women and children with severe injuries, including open fractures and gunshot wounds. Zaher, an MSF nurse at a mobile clinic in Gaza City, said they treated a woman with a leg injury and a nine-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the face, allegedly caused by an Israeli quadcopter drone.
Witness accounts from al-Shifa Hospital described scenes of devastation. One patient, Mohammed Malaka, said he heard two missiles before losing consciousness. “I opened my eyes and saw my father on the ground, and my three brothers covered in blood … the tents had become ashes, and people were lying on the ground everywhere,” he told MSF.
Humanitarian Aid Still Severely Restricted
Gaza’s displaced population continues to suffer amid ongoing restrictions on aid, including the delivery of tents needed for winter shelter. UNICEF’s Pires said many children are “sleeping in the open” and trembling with fear inside flooded makeshift shelters.
“For hundreds of thousands of children living in tents over the rubble of their former homes, the new winter season is a threat multiplier,” Pires warned. “Children are shivering through the night with no heating, no insulation, and too few blankets.”
He reiterated that “there is no safe place for children in Gaza,” urging the international community to increase assistance and prevent further suffering.
1 thought on “UNICEF: 67 Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire Took Effect”