UNICEF says more than 340 children killed in Gaza since ceasefire
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported that since the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 11, 2025, at least 340 children in the territory have been killed in Israeli military attacks.
Ricardo Pires, UNICEF spokesperson, said at the UN’s weekly press briefing in Geneva that despite the ceasefire, five boys and two girls were killed in the past two weeks in the attacks, and two other children died from earlier injuries.
According to the UNICEF spokesperson, around 800,000 children in the Gaza Strip are displaced, and most of them are living in tents or in damaged and unsafe buildings. More than 60,000 children in the territory have also lost one or both parents in the war.
These difficult conditions mean children in the Gaza Strip are spending a fourth consecutive winter affected by the consequences of the war. The ceasefire has only helped to bring limited improvement in food security, but many aspects of children’s lives remain under threat.
In addition, more than 560,000 children have returned to educational centres, more than 200 of which are operating with UNICEF support. Even so, many essential services in the Gaza Strip remain inaccessible and humanitarian needs are overwhelmingly widespread, while available funding is nowhere near sufficient to meet those needs.
The report shows that the declared ceasefire has failed to fundamentally preserve the safety and calm of children in the Gaza Strip, and their humanitarian situation remains critical.
