A child a day: The deadly illusion of Gaza’s ceasefire
This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Spokesperson, James Elder, to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
GENEVA/AMMAN, 19 June 2026 – “For many, many months, the world has been told there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Yet for Palestinian children, this so-called ceasefire has become a cruel and deadly illusion.
“Since the ceasefire was announced in October 2025, 265 Palestinian children have been killed across Gaza. That is an absurd and devastating figure. During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months.
“Let us be clear about what this means. These children were not killed in a warzone. They were killed in their homes. In their schools. Playing football. Fishing. They were shot, bombed, and struck by quadcopters.
Credibility
“While the world continues to speak the language of ceasefire, families in Gaza continue to bury their sons and daughters. However, if a child is being killed every day, surely the debate is no longer about the quality of the ceasefire. It is about the credibility of calling it one.
“This week: a two-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces; a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed inside his tent; a 5-year-old boy and his father were killed by an Israeli strike, and on and on it goes.
“The suffering does not end with those killed. More than 400 children have been injured, many with catastrophic wounds. Also this week: a 12-year-old girl – whilst in her tent – was shot in the chest with live ammunition from a crane-mounted gun; a three-year-old girl was shot in the face by a bullet from a quadcopter drone while inside her home. Doctors are treating brain haemorrhages, devastating injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, and life-changing trauma.
Trauma
“Let me speak for a moment on trauma: For Gaza’s children, fear, loss and violence have become so constant that trauma is no longer an episode in their lives. It is woven into the very fabric of their childhood. It is, quite literally, carried in their bodies.
“The trauma is so profound that it affects children’s ability to eat, sleep and, of course, to develop normally. Many children are living in such a heightened state of fear and distress that they struggle to eat adequately, further aggravating malnutrition, and leaving children physically weaker as well as emotionally scarred.
Restrictions
“Hundreds of children urgently require medical evacuation. At the same time, restrictions on essential medicines mean wounded children are enduring greater pain and face an increased risk of infection, complications, and further amputations.
“We must stop accepting levels of child deaths that would provoke international outrage anywhere else in the world. We must stop normalising the abnormal. The fact that children can continue to be killed at this scale during a ceasefire should alarm every government and every institution which claims to defend international law.
Political will
“The continued killing of children is not the consequence of a lack of options. It is the consequence of a lack of political will. Every day that passes without responsibility sends the same message: Palestinian children’s lives can be taken without accountability. This is no longer a failure of the system—it has become the system.
“Lastly, and relatedly, I want to flag for you the statement UNICEF issued on Wednesday on Lebanon, where, after more than 100 days of increased hostilities – since 2 March – 247 children have been killed and almost 1,000 injured.
“That’s an average of 12 children killed or maimed every day. Twelve children a day. The fact that we are once again calculating a daily average of children killed and wounded tells its own devastating story.
“In Lebanon, we are also talking about periods of a declared ceasefire, where children are continuing to be killed. No ceasefire can be considered meaningful while children continue to be killed. The violence against girls and boys must end.”
For more information, please contact:
Joe English | UNICEF New York | + 1 917 893 0692 | [email protected]