One child every 52 minutes. That is the pace the Palestinian health ministry put on child deaths in Gaza when the war reached its 700th day, according to Middle East Eye. The ministry’s count: over 19,400 children killed since October 2023, more than 30% of all deaths.
In plain terms, nearly one in three of the dead was a child. Overall the ministry had recorded at least 64,300 Palestinians killed by then, and Israeli military data put civilians at over 83% of that number.
Hunger and failing services
Deaths are only part of the picture. Middle East Eye reported that more than 58% of Gaza’s people were at “emergency” levels of food shortage, and 32%, or 641,000 people, faced the worst category of famine. Of 370 recorded starvation deaths, over 35% were children under five.
UNICEF’s Tess Ingram put it this way: “The collapse of essential services is leaving the youngest and most vulnerable fighting for survival.” Without “immediate and increased access to food and nutrition treatments,” she warned, more children will die from causes that can be prevented.
In October 2025, CBS News cited Save the Children for a toll of at least 20,000 children killed, and UNICEF for about 61,000 killed or wounded. UNICEF also said one in five children faced acute malnutrition.
Moving again and again
The UN estimates that roughly 90% of Gaza’s 1.9 million people have been forced from their homes. That is roughly nine of every ten people. A UN humanitarian coordinator told CBS the mass movements left families in “extremely difficult conditions in terms of hygiene, sanitation.”
UNICEF’s own appeal describes damaged water and sanitation systems, destroyed health facilities and a surge in disease. Routine immunization has been interrupted. Maternal and newborn services have been severely disrupted, and thousands of children under five remain acutely malnourished.
Orphans and lost schooling
CBS spoke with orphans at a camp in Khan Younis. Deena Al-Za’arab, 14, lost both parents and said she has to “keep it together for the sake of my siblings.” Arat Awqal, 10, now looks after her younger sister. “We are always scared,” she said of life since her father died. Gazal Basam, 12, held her father’s photograph and said “life will never be the same again.”
UNICEF’s latest page, updated August 5, 2026, says over 64,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured and more than 56,000 have lost one or both parents. Attacks on schools, many of them sheltering displaced families, have “severely hampered the resumption of learning.” The agency is working to set up temporary learning spaces for 658,000 school-aged children, and it is calling for more child protection and mental health support to address the long-term harm of violence, displacement and loss.
Sources
- Over 19,400 children killed in Gaza by Israel as genocide marks 700th day (Middle East Eye)
- Gaza War's Impact on Children (CBS News)
- Children in Gaza need life-saving support (UNICEF)
