UNICEF says Gaza ceasefire has failed to protect children

UNICEF said Israeli forces have killed at least 265 Palestinian children in Gaza since a ceasefire was declared in October 2025, an average of one child a day over more than eight months. The UN agency said the figures show the truce has not protected children in the enclave, where it says hundreds more have been wounded and many need medical evacuation.

James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson, told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the ceasefire had become a “cruel and deadly illusion” for families in Gaza. He said children had been killed in homes, schools and public places, including while playing football or fishing.

“During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months,” Elder said, according to UNICEF.

Children killed and injured during truce

UNICEF said more than 400 children have been injured since October, many with severe wounds. Elder said recent cases included a two-year-old boy shot and killed by Israeli forces, a 13-year-old boy killed inside his tent, and a five-year-old boy and his father killed in an Israeli strike.

Elder also cited cases of a 12-year-old girl shot in the chest while inside her tent and a three-year-old girl shot in the face by a bullet from a quadcopter drone while she was inside her home. He said Israeli boundary lines in Gaza had shifted in ways that increased danger for civilians near those areas.

UNICEF said hundreds of children urgently need to leave Gaza for medical treatment. Elder said Israeli restrictions on essential medicines have raised the risk of infections, complications and amputations among injured children.

Humanitarian groups say Israel’s blockade and military restrictions have left children trapped in a health system damaged by bombardment and siege. According to those groups, hospitals in Gaza are short of medicine, fuel, staff and equipment.

Wider toll reported in Gaza and Lebanon

Elder said fear, bereavement and violence now shape the daily lives of children in Gaza. He urged governments and international institutions to act, saying a ceasefire cannot be considered meaningful while children continue to be killed.

UNICEF also pointed to Lebanon, where the agency said 247 children have been killed and 992 injured since hostilities escalated on March 2.

The warning came as the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that 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.

Palestinian health authorities said Thursday that Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 73,018 Palestinians and wounded 173,273 since October 7, 2023. The authorities said Israeli attacks have killed 1,007 people and wounded 3,165 since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, and that rescue crews have recovered 784 bodies from areas that had previously been inaccessible.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.