Gaza city: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has described the ceasefire announced in October 2025 as a "cruel and deadly illusion" for the children of Gaza, pointing to ongoing fatalities, injuries, and restrictions on medical and food supplies in the region
According to Libyan News Agency, according to statistics from the Government Media Office in Gaza, Israeli occupation forces have killed 21,500 children from October 8, 2023, to July of this year.
Among the victims are over 520 infants born during what has been termed the Israeli war of extermination. Additionally, 1,022 children under the age of one were killed, highlighting the severe impact on Gaza's youngest population. A report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that children made up approximately 30% of those killed and 26% of those injured by the end of 2025.
Furthermore, 10,500 children have suffered life-altering injuries, and more than 1,000 have undergone amputations. Nearly 4,000 children are at risk of death unless they receive urgent medical evacuation for treatment outside the Gaza Strip, given the critical shortage of medicines and medical supplies.
The ceasefire, implemented on October 10, 2025, has reportedly not halted the violence against children. UNICEF stated on June 19 that 265 Palestinian children had died in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began, averaging almost one child per day over more than eight months. Moreover, more than 400 children have been injured during the same period, many with life-altering injuries, often while inside their homes, tents, schools, or at play.
On November 10, 2023, Israeli occupation forces reportedly stormed Al-Nasr Children's Hospital in western Gaza City, forcing medical staff to evacuate under fire without evacuating premature babies, resulting in the deaths of five infants, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Post-evacuation, the bodies of these infants were found decomposing inside incubators and on hospital beds, deprived of necessary medical treatment.
Since the onset of the conflict, 157 children have succumbed to hunger and malnutrition, while another 25 have died from exposure to cold and frost inside displacement camps. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics referenced a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which noted that over 3,700 children aged between 6 and 59 months were admitted to malnutrition treatment programs in February 2026.
The report indicates a continuing food crisis, with 64% of children consuming only two or fewer food groups daily, and over 90% lacking essential nutritional diversity. More than 60% suffer from acute malnutrition, jeopardizing their physical and mental development. UNICEF also reported that more than 58,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents due to the war, leaving them vulnerable to displacement, poverty, and a lack of education and healthcare.
Since October 8, 2023, Israeli forces have killed over 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 173,000, in addition to destroying approximately 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.