Quick summary:
• At least 74 children were killed in Gaza during the first week of 2025, according to UNICEF reports.
• Several mass casualty events took place in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Al Mawasi, including a strike that killed five children in a “safe zone.”
• Eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia since December 26, due to Gaza’s lack of adequate shelter and winter supplies.
• The humanitarian aid blockade continues to cause famine conditions in Gaza, preventing essential supplies like food, fuel, and warm clothing from entering.
• Gaza’s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, with hospitals unable to operate due to fuel shortages and attacks on medical facilities.
• Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last pediatric unit in northern Gaza, is no longer operational following a raid last month.
• UNICEF and humanitarian organizations are calling for an immediate ceasefire and improved humanitarian access to save lives in Gaza.
At least 74 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza during the first seven days of 2025, marking a grim start to the new year for one of the most vulnerable populations in the world. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), children in Gaza continue to face relentless violence, dire living conditions, and inadequate access to basic necessities as the humanitarian crisis deepens across the besieged enclave.
“Children have reportedly been killed in several mass casualty events, including nighttime attacks in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Al Mawasi, a unilaterally designated ‘safe zone’ in the south,” UNICEF said in a statement. The most recent attack in Al Mawasi, which occurred just yesterday, claimed the lives of five children.
The escalating violence has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, with Gaza’s infrastructure in ruins, hospitals overwhelmed, and aid deliveries falling far short of meeting the needs of families. Compounding this tragedy, eight infants and newborns have reportedly died from hypothermia since December 26, 2024, as winter temperatures drop and families remain in makeshift shelters without adequate protection.
“For the children of Gaza, the new year has brought more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “A ceasefire is long overdue. Too many children have been killed or lost loved ones in a tragic start to the new year.”
Mass casualty events and the loss of innocent lives
In a series of attacks across Gaza, Israeli forces reportedly carried out nighttime strikes that resulted in mass casualties, including children. Among the hardest-hit areas were Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Al Mawasi.
Al Mawasi was previously designated as a “safe zone” by Israeli authorities, yet it has become a target for repeated bombings. In one of the latest strikes, five children were killed in the area, raising concerns about the effectiveness of such safe zones and the continued targeting of civilian areas.
The cumulative death toll of children in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict has now surpassed 17,500, according to official counts. Human rights groups warn that the true number of child deaths is likely higher, as children who die from starvation, disease, or hypothermia often go uncounted.
Humanitarian blockade and starvation conditions
While airstrikes continue to take lives, Gaza’s children are also dying from the ongoing humanitarian blockade that has created famine-like conditions in the region. UNICEF and other humanitarian groups have long warned that the blockade—preventing the entry of essential supplies, including food, medicine, and winter clothing—poses an existential threat to Gaza’s population.
Newborns and young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of the blockade, with inadequate shelter and insufficient heating making hypothermia a growing threat.
“Just on Monday, a 35-day-old baby died from hypothermia,” the UN reported. In total, eight infants and newborns have died from the cold since late December.
Despite repeated warnings from international organizations, Israel has refused to lift the blockade or allow an adequate flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The number of aid trucks allowed into the territory remains far below the level needed to address the crisis.
Gaza’s health system on the brink of collapse
The destruction of civilian infrastructure has left Gaza’s health system in shambles. The few remaining operational hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, while medical staff face severe shortages of supplies and fuel.
Last month, Kamal Adwan Hospital—the last operational pediatric unit in northern Gaza—was raided and rendered non-functional by Israeli forces. This has left children in northern Gaza without access to life-saving pediatric care.
“Gaza’s remaining hospitals are on the verge of collapse,” Gaza health officials warned this week. Without immediate access to fuel, medicines, and essential supplies, they say the healthcare system could fail entirely in the coming days.
UNICEF previously warned that more than 7,700 newborns in Gaza are at risk of dying due to lack of access to neonatal care. With the closure of Kamal Adwan Hospital and ongoing fuel shortages, the situation has only worsened.
Calls for ceasefire and humanitarian access
UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations are calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the violence and allow aid to reach Gaza’s most vulnerable residents.
“UNICEF has long warned that inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and healthcare, the dire sanitary situation, and now the winter weather put the lives of all children in Gaza at risk,” Russell said.
The organization is also urging all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law.
“UNICEF appeals to all parties to the conflict to cease attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers, and civilian infrastructure,” Russell stated. “The delivery of aid and supplies is a matter of life or death for children in Gaza.”
Human rights groups have called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law, including the targeting of hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure.
Record year for violations of children’s rights
Last year, 2024, was already one of the worst years on record for violations of children’s rights, according to UNICEF. The organization noted that conflicts in places like Sudan, Ukraine, and Syria contributed to the grim figures—but the crisis in Gaza stands out for the sheer scale of violence against children.
Israel was placed on a UN list of violators of children’s rights in 2024, after committing thousands of grave violations against Palestinian children.
Since October 7, 2023, when the conflict escalated, Israeli forces have reportedly killed at least 17,500 children in Gaza. Thousands of children remain missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
“The parties to the conflict and the international community must act urgently to end the violence, alleviate suffering, and ensure that all hostages, especially the two remaining children, are released,” UNICEF said.
Conclusion: A growing call for accountability
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza spirals out of control, the international community faces mounting pressure to intervene and hold Israel accountable for its actions.
The killing of 74 children in just the first week of 2025 highlights the urgent need for a ceasefire and an end to the blockade. Without immediate action, UNICEF warns, the tragic toll on Gaza’s children will continue to rise.
“This is a humanitarian catastrophe,” Russell said. “We must do more to protect the lives and futures of Gaza’s children. They cannot wait any longer.”
To understand how UNICEF and partners provide essential services to children caught in conflict zones, click here.
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