One Palestinian child has been killed every day on average for more than eight months in Gaza since a so-called \u201cceasefire\u201d with Israel was announced, the United Nations children\u2019s agency says.<\/p>\n
UNICEF describes the truce as a \u201ccruel and deadly illusion\u201d as Israel continues to attack the besieged enclave.<\/p>\n
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Israeli forces have killed at least 265 Palestinian children since October 2025, when the halt in hostilities was declared, UNICEF said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months,\u201d UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.<\/p>\n
He said the continued deaths exposed the hollowness of a ceasefire that has not protected Palestinian children from Israeli fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the world continues to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continue to bury their sons and daughters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Elder said children had been killed in homes, schools and public spaces, including while playing football or fishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
According to UNICEF, more than 400 children have also been injured since October, many with devastating wounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe suffering does not end with those killed. More than 400 children have been injured, many with catastrophic wounds,\u201d Elder said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sneeze near the Orange Line and you may well get shot,\u201d Elder maintained, referring to the \u201ccontinual creeping\u201d of Israel\u2019s so-called \u201cYellow Line\u201d and \u201cOrange Line\u201d boundaries of occupation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u2018Loss and violence have become constant\u2019<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Elder said the psychological toll on Gaza\u2019s children had become unbearable, with fear and violence shaping daily life.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Gaza\u2019s children, fear, loss and violence have become so constant that trauma is no longer an episode in their lives \u2013 it is woven into the very fabric of their childhood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He urged governments and international institutions to act, saying continued child deaths during a ceasefire should alarm anyone committed to international law.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo ceasefire can be considered meaningful while children continue to be killed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n