UNICEF says a Palestinian child has been killed daily in Gaza despite ceasefire
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva on June 19 that at least 265 Palestinian children have been killed and more than 400 injured in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025 — an average of roughly one child killed each day over more than eight months.
The agency said children have been killed in homes, schools and public spaces, and that Israeli restrictions on medicines and medical evacuations have compounded the toll. Elder called the truce a “cruel and deadly illusion,” adding that “no ceasefire can be considered meaningful while children continue to be killed.”
The figures put a specific number on what aid agencies have described as continued violence under a nominal halt to fighting. UNICEF’s framing — pairing the casualty count with the access restrictions — is aimed at pressing guarantors of the ceasefire to enforce its terms rather than treat the agreement as settled.