At least 300 children in Gaza have reportedly been killed during the 300 days since a ceasefire agreement was announced on 10 October 2025 to suspend military operations between Hamas fighters and the Israel Defense Forces, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday, August 6, 2026.

Citing Gazan health authorities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported a total of 1,209 people killed and 3,943 injured since the ceasefire began. UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, stated, “A ceasefire that leaves an average of one child dead each and every day is failing children.” He added that hundreds more children have been injured, many severely, and are still awaiting an end to the violence promised to them.

Amid reports of a new United States-led peace plan and a recent increase in Israeli airstrikes targeting alleged Hamas positions, UNICEF highlighted that families are confined to about one third of the Gaza Strip, sheltering among destroyed buildings, rubble, and uncleared waste.

The agency also noted that ongoing military operations near the so-called ‘Yellow Line’—a separation barrier made of concrete blocks erected by Israeli soldiers—along with strikes in other parts of Gaza, are disrupting civilian life, damaging shelters, causing renewed displacement, and restricting access to life-saving services.

Following attacks on a medical storage facility adjacent to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah last weekend, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that essential medical supplies, including some delivered by the agency, were destroyed.

Humanitarian efforts continue, with recent work to improve 3,000 makeshift shelters in Gaza City and distribution of emergency shelter and essential items to 9,000 households, including kitchen sets, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, solar lights, and clothes. Additionally, more than 250,000 pre-school and school-aged children are participating in summer learning activities to provide routine and help recover lost education during the hostilities.

Sources