news.un.org
2026-06-19
"During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months," said UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. "That is an absurd and devastating figure."
Killed while playing
Briefing journalists in Geneva via video from Amman, the UNICEF aid veteran noted that the children "were not killed in a warzone" but rather in their homes, schools while playing football or fishing.
"They were shot, they were bombed, they were struck by quadcopters" operated by the Israeli military, Mr. Elder continued.
The child fatalities are included among the nearly 1,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and more than 3,100 injured since the ceasefire began, according to the enclave's health authorities.
"You sneeze near the Orange Line and you may well get shot," Mr. Elder maintained, referring to the "continual creeping" of Israel's so-called "Yellow Line" and "Orange Line" boundaries of occupation.
'Utter lack of accountability'