One Child Dies Every Day in Gaza Since the Ceasefire

At least 300 children have been killed in Gaza in the roughly 300 days since the so-called "ceasefire" was announced on October 10, 2021 - an average of one child per day - said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"Hundreds of other children have been injured, many of them seriously, "UNICEF said in a statement on Thursday, urging parties to the proposed US-led peace plan to turn their promises into action.

"The ceasefire, which results in an average of one child being killed every day, is a failure for children," said Edouard Beigbeder, Regional Director for UNICEF for the Middle East and North Africa, quoted by Al Jazeera (7/8)

"Children in Gaza are still waiting for the end of the violence that has been promised to them," he said.

Currently, families are trapped in the area, which covers about a third of the area, sheltering among destroyed buildings, debris, and piles of uncollected garbage, the agency said.

Children continue to face threats of acute malnutrition, disease, unsafe water, and broken sanitation, while a lack of incubators forces some premature newborns to share the same machines.

Since October 2023, Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 73,300 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the region.

UNICEF said more than 58,000 children have lost one or both parents, while more than one million children need protection and psychosocial support.

The agency previously estimated that around 17,000 children were living unaccompanied or separated from their families, one of the largest child protection crises in the world. Many families have experienced repeated displacement, loss of income, and limited access to health, education, and protection services.

In an attack in the western part of Gaza City on August 2, residents found the body of an unborn baby under the rubble after the attack killed a pregnant woman, her husband, and their five-year-old son, Al Jazeera reported.

In addition to physical harm, humanitarian workers describe a generation that is losing their childhood.

In the midst of the third summer of the ongoing war, many children spend their days fetching water, queuing for food and collecting firewood instead of playing; meanwhile, summer camps, art supplies, even paper and pens are still difficult to find in refugee camps, according to UNICEF and various aid groups.

A UNICEF assessment in May found young children lacked the safe and stimulating environments needed for early childhood development, and school-age children were facing prolonged learning disorders with little hope of recovery without targeted assistance.

"Playing is a way for children to get back what the war has taken from them," UNICEF's head of communications for Palestine, Jonathan Crickx, said earlier this year, describing play as essential, not just a luxury.

Beigbeder welcomed the latest announcement leading to cessation of hostilities measures and increased aid deliveries.

"For children in Gaza, the yardstick is simple. Do the killings stop? Do the aid reach them in large numbers? Do the hospitals resume operations and the water flow again?" he said.

This week, UNICEF delivered more than 600 pallets of school supplies and soap ahead of the new school year, which is expected to begin in two weeks.

Separately, a medical source in Gaza confirmed that the death toll from the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip had reached 73,382 Palestinians killed and 174,236 injured since October 7, 2023, quoted from the WAFA report on Thursday.

They added that the total number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire that came into effect on October 11 last year has reached 1,255, while the number of injured has increased to 4,125. A total of 806 bodies have also been found during the same period.