The UN children's agency UNICEF said that at least 60 boys and 40 girls had 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.
"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," he said, adding that the true number was likely higher.
"A ceasefire that slows the bombs is progress but one that still buries children is not enough."
AFP has sought a response from the Israeli military.
An official at Gaza's health ministry, which maintains casualty records, has reported a higher figure of 165 children killed during the tenuous ceasefire, out of a total 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 stressed that the ongoing Israeli attacks came after more than two years of war which 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 there since the beginning of the war waged by Israel in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged in the relentless air and ground offensive, according to UN data.
On January 1, Israel suspended 37 international aid agencies from accessing the Gaza Strip, despite what the UN said at the time was an "outrageous" move.
"Blocking international NGOs, blocking any humanitarian aid... that means blocking life-saving assistance," Elder stressed on Monday.
While UNICEF had managed to significantly increase aid entering the densely populated strip since October, he stressed: "You need partners on the ground, and it (the aid) still doesn't meet the need."
"It's impossible to overstate just how much still is required to be done here."
He also insisted: "When you've got key NGOs banned from delivering humanitarian aid and from bearing witness, and when foreign journalists are barred" it begs the question if the aim is "restricting scrutiny of suffering of children".
Israeli army says killed two militants in Gaza despite ceasefire
Jerusalem (AFP) Jan 13, 2026 -
The Israeli army said it killed two militants Tuesday in the southern Gaza Strip in an exchange involving tank fire and air strikes, despite its fragile ceasefire with Hamas.
The military said in a statement that it identified "six armed terrorists in the western Rafah area, adjacent to IDF (Israeli army) troops".
"Tanks arrived at the scene and fired at the terrorists. The terrorists fired at the soldiers in one of the tanks, and an exchange of fire ensued, including targeted aerial strikes in the area," it said, adding two militants were killed and that troops were searching for the others.
Under the truce that entered into force in October following two years of war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip withdrew to positions behind a demarcation known as the "yellow line".
The city of Rafah is located behind the yellow line, under Israeli army control. The area beyond the yellow line remains under Hamas authority.
Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
On Thursday, the army said it struck Hamas targets in various parts of the Strip in response to the failed launch of a projectile from Gaza towards Israel.
Gaza's civil defence agency said the strikes killed at least 13 people, including five children.
Israeli forces have killed at least 447 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority.
The Israeli army says militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.
Related Links
Space War News
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
