Israel killed at least two children a day in Gaza in the first six weeks of the current ceasefire deal, the UN reports.
Last week, UNICEF reported that Israeli forces have killed 67 children since October 11, when the deal went into effect. Gaza health officials have said that Israel has killed 342 Palestinians total amid the ceasefire and injured over 700 others.
“Yesterday morning, a baby girl was reportedly killed in Khan Younis by an airstrike, while the day before, seven children were killed in Gaza City and the south,” said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires on Friday, adding that Israel was responsible for the strikes. Israel also killed 12 children in a strike on southern Lebanon last week, in violation of the ceasefire and international law, experts say.
On Saturday, Israeli attacks killed a further 24 Palestinians in Gaza, including children, with 87 wounded. One strike on a car in Gaza City killed at least 11 and wounded 20, many of them children.
Israel said the strikes were in response to gunfire targeted at its troops, supposedly within the territory past the “yellow line” being occupied by Israel.
These strikes are among the nearly 500 Israeli violations of the ceasefire in just 45 days since it came into effect, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
“It’s a fragile ceasefire. This is not a life we can live. There’s no safe place,” Khalil Abu Hatab, a survivor of one of the strikes in Deir al-Balah, told the Associated Press.
Israel has regularly violated ceasefire agreements with various countries and armed groups, continuing to target civilians with impunity, many commentators have noted.
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas) said on Sunday that the ceasefire deal in Gaza is a “farce.”
“It’s harmful and disingenuous for American media to continue the charade that there’s a ceasefire in place,” Castro said in a post on X.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) added, quoting the post.
Tlaib has repeatedly said that the deal isn’t actually a ceasefire, pointing out Israel’s many violations.
“There is no ceasefire. It’s a lie,” the lawmaker wrote in a post earlier this month. “More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli government since Trump claimed a ceasefire was achieved. The Israeli government never even stopped bombing Lebanon. They are still committing war crimes.”
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