UNICEF says more than 340 children killed in Gaza in the year since the ceasefire was announced

16 October 2026

The UN Children's Fund said that a little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed in Gaza and hundreds more injured. Spokesperson Ricardo Pires told journalists in Geneva that in the last two weeks in Gaza alone five boys and two girls were reported killed and at least 33 children seriously injured in airstrikes, drone strikes and gunfire across the Strip, while another two boys died of injuries sustained earlier. According to UNICEF, 800,000 children remain displaced in Gaza and most live in tents or bombed-out buildings. An estimated 60,000 children have seen either one or both parents killed during the war or since the ceasefire, and nearly every child needs some form of mental health support. UNICEF has helped more than 560,000 children return to learning since the ceasefire, including at over 200 UNICEF-supported learning centres, has provided digital cash assistance to more than 380,000 people and safe water to 1.2 million people. Mr. Pires warned that the Sheikh Radwan stormwater basin is half-full and that with winter rains approaching contaminated water could overflow into downstream residential areas.