At least 300 children have reportedly been killed in the Gaza Strip during the 300 days since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025, according to UNICEF.

The figure amounts to an average of one child killed each day during a period intended to suspend military operations and allow humanitarian relief into Gaza.

“A ceasefire that leaves an average of one child dead each and every day is failing children,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Hundreds more children have been injured, many of them severely, the UN agency said in a statement issued on 6 August. It did not provide a precise updated injury total.

UNICEF had reported by 19 June that more than 400 children had been injured since the ceasefire announcement. The agency described children suffering serious wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, as well as brain haemorrhages and injuries requiring amputations.

The ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 but has not ended Israeli attacks across the territory.

At least 1,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes during the nine months following the agreement, according to Palestinian health officials cited by Reuters. Many of those killed were women and children.

Israeli air strikes on Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis killed at least 18 Palestinians during the first weekend of August. The dead included two couples and their children, according to medical officials.

The Israeli military said some of the attacks targeted Hamas commanders and other fighters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has accused Hamas of rearming, recruiting members and rebuilding tunnels in violation of the ceasefire plan. Those claims did not directly address UNICEF’s child casualty figures.

UNICEF said families were confined to roughly one-third of the Gaza Strip, often living among destroyed buildings, accumulated waste and unsafe shelters.

Children continue to face acute malnutrition, infectious diseases, unsafe water and severely damaged sanitation and healthcare systems.

A UNICEF situation report published in February said at least 21,289 children had been reported killed and 44,500 injured in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 3 February 2026.

Only half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were partially functioning at that time, while none was fully operational. Humanitarian health missions continued to face damaged roads, denied access and restrictions on essential medicines and equipment.

UNICEF said recent announcements outlining further steps towards ending hostilities and expanding humanitarian relief offered another opportunity to stop the deaths.

The agency called on all parties to comply with international law, protect children and permit rapid and unrestricted humanitarian access. It said the credibility of the latest political roadmap would depend on whether attacks stopped, aid entered at scale and children could safely return to school.

“This time, agreements must translate into action,” Beigbeder said.