Meanwhile, an official at Gaza’s Health Ministry, which maintains casualty records, reported a higher toll of 165 children killed during the ceasefire, out of a total of 442 fatalities. In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed since 2023
Palestinians stand next to makeshift shelters inside a war-damaged building, parts of which collapsed on a windy winter day in Gaza City on Wednesday. PIC/AFP
At least 100 children have been killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since the start of a fragile ceasefire three months ago, news agency AFP reported, citing the United Nations said on Tuesday.
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said that at least 60 boys and 40 girls have been killed in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory since early October.
“More than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire,” UNICEF Spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire,” he said, speaking from Gaza City, adding, “These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones. They’re killed from tank shelling. They’re killed from live ammunition. They’re killed from quad copters. We are at 100 — no doubt.
Elder said that the actual number of casualties was likely higher.
“A ceasefire that slows the bombs is progress but one that still buries children is not enough,” he said.
Israel-Hamas War: Gaza Health Ministry reports higher child death toll
AFP has sought a response from the Israeli military to the claims made by Elder.
Meanwhile, an official at Gaza’s Health Ministry, which maintains casualty records, reported a higher toll of 165 children killed during the ceasefire, out of a total of 442 fatalities.
“Additionally, seven children have died from exposure to cold since the beginning of this year,” Zaher Al-Wahidi, Director of the Computer Department at the Ministry of Health, told AFP.
Elder said the continued Israeli attacks have followed more than two years of war that has “left life for Gaza’s children unimaginably hard”.
“They still live in fear. The psychological damage remains untreated, and it’s becoming deeper and harder to heal the longer this goes on,” he said.
In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed since the start of the war launched by Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel-Hamas War: UN flags widespread destruction, aid curbs and access issues in Gaza
According to UN data, nearly 80 per cent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged in the sustained air and ground offensive.
On January 1, Israel suspended 37 international aid agencies from entering the Gaza Strip, a move the UN had described as “outrageous”.
“Blocking international NGOs, blocking any humanitarian aid… that means blocking life-saving assistance,” Elder stressed on Monday.
While UNICEF has managed to significantly increase aid entering the densely populated territory since October, Elder said it remained insufficient.
“You need partners on the ground, and it still doesn’t meet the need,” he said, adding, “It’s impossible to overstate just how much still is required to be done here.”
He also raised concerns over restrictions on humanitarian organisations and the media.
“When you’ve got key NGOs banned from delivering humanitarian aid and from bearing witness, and when foreign journalists are barred,” he said, it raises questions about whether the aim is “restricting scrutiny of suffering of children”.
(With AFP inputs)
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