UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the new year had brought Gaza’s children “more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation and increased exposure to cold” and stressed the need for an immediate and “long-overdue” ceasefire.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that at least 74 children were killed in the “relentless” ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip in just the first seven days of 2025, including “in the nightmarish attacks on Gaza City, Khan Younis and Al-Mawasi – a unilaterally designated safe zone in the south.”

Since 26 December, eight infants and newborns have died of hypothermia, while more than a million Gazan children are living in makeshift tents and facing freezing winter temperatures, UNICEF said.

In addition, families struggle to access basic supplies due to the destruction of infrastructure, including food, safe water, sanitation and access to health care.

“UNICEF has long warned that inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and health care, dire health and now winter weather are putting the lives of all children in Gaza at risk,” said Ms. Russell. Newborns and children with health conditions are particularly vulnerable. Parties to the conflict and the international community must act urgently to end the violence, alleviate suffering, and ensure the release of all hostages, especially the two remaining children. “Families need to put an end to this unimaginable suffering and grief.”