100 Gaza Children Killed Since Ceasefire Began

At least 100 children have been killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes and ground forces since the start of a tenuous ceasefire that began three months ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva that scores of children had been killed in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory since early October

“More than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire,” Elder said, speaking from Gaza City.

“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire.”

Elder said the children were killed by “airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling. They’re killed from live ammunition. They’re killed from quad copters.”

Officials at Gaza’s health ministry reported a higher figure, saying 165 children had been killed during the ceasefire period, out of a total of 442 deaths.

Over 100 Gaza Children Killed Since Ceasefire Began – UN. Credit: Sana SY

Meanwhile, Elder said the continued violence followed more than two years of war that has “left life for Gaza’s children unimaginably hard”.

More than 70,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign in reaction to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza authorities in November.

According to United Nations data, nearly 80 per cent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the air and ground offensive.