Editor’s note: This article originally appeared at truthout.org and is reposted here under the terms of Creative Commons license CC BY-ND-NC 4.0. You can see the original article here.
Israel has started 2025 by killing dozens of children in Gaza in strikes and raids across the besieged enclave, the UN has reported, after having already broken numerous records for violence against children in its genocide of Palestinians in the past 15 months.
In the first seven days of the new year, Israeli forces killed at least 74 children in Gaza, according to UNICEF. They are among at least 332 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks since the beginning of the year.
“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. The most recent attack, yesterday, saw five children reportedly killed in Al Mawasi,” the agency said.
Meanwhile, children and babies are dying due to Israel’s catastrophic humanitarian aid blockade, which has created famine conditions across the strip and, in recent weeks, has caused children to freeze to death.
Children are especially vulnerable to starvation and cold weather, and humanitarian groups have warned of the threat of hypothermia to children as Israel prevents the entry of key materials like tents and winter clothes. These deaths go largely uncounted in the official death toll from the genocide.
Just on Monday, a 35-day-old baby died from hypothermia, according to the UN, bringing the total number of deaths from the cold to eight. This comes after human rights groups have said for months that Israel must increase the amount of cold weather supplies entering the region to prevent such deaths.
“For the children of Gaza, the new year has brought more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement. “A ceasefire is long overdue. Too many children have been killed or lost loved ones in a tragic start to the new year.”
There is little hope for children in need of health care after Israel destroyed Gaza’s health care system. Last month, UNICEF warned that 7,700 newborn babies in Gaza lack access to life-saving care — a situation that has only worsened in recent weeks as Israel has evacuated every last hospital in north Gaza, where 60 percent of Gaza’s neonatal care capacity was previously located.
Children in north Gaza are thus especially vulnerable, with no more pediatric hospital units left in the region after Israel raided, destroyed and shuttered Kamal Adwan Hospital last month. Meanwhile, other hospitals across Gaza are on the verge of collapse within the next few days, Gaza health officials warned on Tuesday, due to a lack of fuel caused by Israel’s blockade.
Last year was already one of the worst years for children’s rights in modern history, UNICEF reported in late December, in part due to Israel’s violence and displacement in Gaza as well as conflicts like those in Sudan, Ukraine and Syria. In 2024, Israel was placed on a UN list of violators of children’s rights after committing thousands of grave violations of Palestinian children’s rights in just the first few months of the genocide alone.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 17,500 children in Gaza, according to official counts. The true death toll is likely worse, as deaths to starvation and disease aren’t included in the official count, and thousands of children are still missing under the rubble.
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter: @zhang_sharon.
