UNICEF says 27 children are killed daily in Gaza as Israeli raids target homes, shelters, and tents.
Israeli occupation forces continued their raids across the Gaza Strip on Friday, targeting multiple areas and causing dozens of casualties, including both fatalities and injuries.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that Israel is killing an average of 27 children per day in the besieged territory.
According to medical sources cited by Al-Jazeera, at least 34 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across various parts of Gaza since dawn on Friday.
Among the victims were 10 people killed when two homes were bombed south of Bani Suhaila, in Khan Yunis.
Civil defense crews, aided by local residents, are still working to recover those trapped beneath the rubble.
In a separate incident, five Palestinians—including two children and a woman—were killed when a home in the Tel al-Zaatar area, in northern Gaza, was targeted early Friday morning.
(The martyr in Gaza dies twice) He arrived at Nasser Shahidin Hospital after the Israeli planes launched a raid on a Tender car in the city of Khan Yunis, and the car was carrying a martyr and was bombed again to drop another martyr. pic.twitter.com/6flkVrreoN
— Haseeb Alwazeer (@HaseebAlwazeer0) April 18, 2025
Palestinian sources said Israeli forces opened intense fire on homes east of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza and destroyed several residential buildings east of Gaza City.
In Rafah, Israeli airstrikes continued to target residential neighborhoods, according to Al Jazeera.
These attacks follow a deadly Thursday in which 46 Palestinians were killed—including members of two entire families—due to Israeli airstrikes, drone attacks, and artillery shelling on homes, tents, shelters, and civilian gathering points.
Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas, announced that its fighters had detonated three explosive devices targeting two Israeli bulldozers in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis.
Children under Fire
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell described the situation as horrifying, stating the world should be shaken by images of children burned alive in their tents. She said 15 children were killed in the past 24 hours alone, including a disabled child who died in a tent fire caused by an airstrike.
Russell noted that nearly 600 children have been killed since the collapse of the ceasefire, with over 1,600 injured.
UNICEF’s spokesperson in Palestine, Kazem Abu Khalaf, told Al Jazeera that at least 16,000 children have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s assault on Gaza, averaging 27 child deaths per day. He confirmed that the death toll among children has risen sharply since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18.
The Gaza Strip has now been under a near-total blockade of aid for 45 consecutive days. The United Nations is warning of an impending humanitarian catastrophe as food, medicine, and clean water supplies are exhausted.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reiterated that, as the occupying power, Israel is legally obligated to provide for the needs of civilians, including food, medical care, and public health services.
Ongoing Genocide
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 51,000, wounding more than 116,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, AJA)
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