More than 340 children killed in Gaza since ceasefire, UNICEF says

More than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured in Gaza since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced a little over a year ago, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday, warning that children continue to face grave risks despite the truce (UN News).

In the last two weeks alone, five boys and two girls have been reported killed and at least 33 children seriously injured in airstrikes, drone strikes and gunfire across the Strip, spokesperson Ricardo Pires told reporters in Geneva. Two more boys died of earlier injuries (Dawn).

“For families mourning the loss of their children, those terrible statistics do not equate with a ceasefire,” Pires said (UN News).

UNICEF said about 800,000 children remain displaced, most living in tents or damaged buildings, while an estimated 60,000 have lost one or both parents during the war or since the ceasefire. Nearly every child needs mental health support to recover (Dawn).

The agency called on the parties to uphold the ceasefire, comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and meet their obligations under international humanitarian law. It also urged an uninterrupted flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies, after reports that private traders had halted cooperation with Israeli authorities over food trucks entering Gaza (Dawn).

Despite the hardship, UNICEF has helped more than 560,000 children return to learning since the ceasefire through more than 200 learning centres, alongside cash assistance to more than 380,000 people and safe water to 1.2 million people (UN News).