At least 300 Palestinian children have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the 300 days since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025, according to the UN children’s agency UNICEF. The figure, equivalent to one child killed on average every day, was released as Israeli military operations continue to cause casualties across the enclave. “A ceasefire that results in one child killed per day has failed children,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, adding that hundreds more children have been wounded, many seriously.

Data from the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, published on Saturday, put the total number of fatalities since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October at 1,257, with 4,131 injuries recorded over the same period. The ministry said two people had died of their wounds and six new casualties had reached hospitals in the preceding 48 hours. Among the incidents cited by Palestinian sources were the killing of Muhannad Jamal Ghiyad by Israeli gunfire east of Deir al-Balah, artillery shelling east of the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, and live fire directed at displaced persons’ tents in the al-Shakoush and al-Iqlimi areas south of Khan Younis, which left four Palestinians wounded, two of them seriously. A four-year-old boy, Ghaith Muhammad Dadir, was hit by fire from an Israeli crane on Jaffa Street in the Tuffah district.

Viewed from Washington, US President Donald Trump claimed a breakthrough in talks to implement the truce, yet Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces killed over 30 Palestinians in the days that followed. The Palestinian health ministry noted that rescue and civil defence crews remain unable to reach many victims trapped under rubble or lying in the streets. Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance factions agreed days ago to a plan put forward by mediators for implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, according to the same Palestinian sources, but Israeli violations have persisted.

The cumulative toll of the Israeli military campaign on Gaza since 7 October 2023 has risen to 73,384 dead and 174,242 wounded, the health ministry stated. UNICEF’s Beigbeder said the measure of a successful truce for Gaza’s children is simple: “Does all of this stop? Does aid reach them in sufficient quantities? Are hospitals operating again and is water flowing?” The dossier remains open, with no confirmed date for the start of the second-phase talks despite the factions’ acceptance of the mediators’ proposal.