Gaza City – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Tuesday that at least 100 children have been killed in Gaza due to airstrikes and violence since the start of the ceasefire three months ago.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Gaza City, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder stated, “More than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began in early October, meaning almost one boy or girl has died every day during this period.”
Elder specified that these children, comprising 60 boys and 40 girls, were killed in “airstrikes, drone attacks – some of them suicide drones – tank shelling, and live ammunition.” He added that the actual death toll is likely higher than reported.
According to a Palestinian Ministry of Health official in Gaza, responsible for recording casualties, the number of children killed since the ceasefire is even greater. The official stated that 165 children have died out of a total of 442 fatalities in the region.
Zaher al-Wahidi, director of the information department at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told news agencies that seven more children have died from hypothermia since the beginning of the year.
Elder emphasized that children in Gaza “continue to live in fear, and psychological trauma remains untreated. The longer this persists, the worse the situation becomes, and recovery becomes more difficult.” He warned that life “remains suffocating” and that conditions for survival in the Gaza Strip are “fragile.”
The UN representative added, “A ceasefire that reduces the intensity of the bombing is progress, but a ceasefire in which children continue to die is insufficient.” He explained that “what the world calls calm in Gaza today is a crisis elsewhere.”
Elder also condemned Israel’s decision on January 1st to suspend the entry of 37 foreign humanitarian organizations into the Gaza Strip because they refused to provide Israeli authorities with a list of their Palestinian employees.
The ongoing violence and restrictions further exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation for children in Gaza.
