‘Child After Child’: Israel Has Killed 270+ Gaza Children Since Ditching Cease-Fire

𝘼 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙨𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙡𝙞 𝙗𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙞𝙩 𝙇𝙖𝙝𝙞𝙖, 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙂𝙖𝙯𝙖 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 25, 2025. (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

"Children and families in Gaza have barely caught their breath and are now being plunged back into a horrifically familiar world of harm that they cannot escape," said Save the Children's regional director.

Since fully abandoning a two-month cease-fire in the Gaza Strip a week ago, the Israel Defense Forces have slaughtered more than 270 children in the Palestinian enclave, the global charity Save the Children said on social media Tuesday.

"Bombs falling, hospitals destroyed, children killed, and the world is silent. No aid, no safety, no future," said Save the Children humanitarian director Rachael Cummings. The group also noted that the death toll since October 2023 has topped 50,000.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday that since March 18, the IDF has killed at least 792 people and injured 1,663, bringing the totals over the past 18 months to 50,144 dead and 113,704 wounded. Thousands more are missing and presumed dead.

On Monday, Drop Site News' Sharif Kouddous reported that the ministry "released a 1,516-page document listing the names of over 50,000 Palestinians confirmed killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. There are a total of 474 pages listing 15,600+ children's names. The first 27 pages the age is listed as 0—children under 1 year old."

In addition to the 876 infants under age 1, Drop Sitedetailed on social media, the IDF has killed at least 1,686 toddlers (1-2 years), 2,424 preschoolers (3-5 years), 5,745 elementary school students (6-12 years), 2,837 young teens (13-15 years), and 2,045 older teens (16-17 years).

The outlet noted that "this toll does not include deaths from indirect causes such as starvation, disease, or the thousands still missing under the rubble. Researchers have said the actual toll could be three to five times higher."

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that "when the first explosions in Gaza this week started around 1:30 am, a visiting British doctor went to the balcony of a hospital in Khan Younis and watched the streaks of missiles light up the night before pounding the city."

Dr. Sakib Rokadiya then headed to Nasser Hospital's emergency ward, which soon filled with people harmed by the strikes. "Just child after child, young patient after young patient," he said. "The vast, vast majority were women, children, the elderly."

The AP shared more accounts from healthcare providers at the largest hospital in southern Gaza, including Dr. Feroze Sidhwa:

𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒉𝒘𝒂, 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍, 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕-𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘—3 𝒐𝒓 4 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅—𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒏𝒆𝒍. "𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆," 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒉𝒘𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 "𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐."

𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆. 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒉𝒘𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 15 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.

When Israel fully ditched the cease-fire last week, after many violations since mid-January, Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children's regional director, said that "children and families in Gaza have barely caught their breath and are now being plunged back into a horrifically familiar world of harm that they cannot escape."

"These airstrikes come as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain displaced, their homes destroyed and uninhabitable, with tents all that stand between them and explosive weapons designed for wide reach," he pointed out. "Children are the most vulnerable to explosive weapons. Their lighter bodies are thrown further by the blasts, and their bones are softer and bend more easily, with higher risk of secondary injuries and long-term deformities and disabilities. Their small bodies have less blood to lose—a death sentence when emergency services can't safely operate and reach them."

"Children who survive the onslaught will not be able to receive adequate medical care or even basic pain medication, following the government of Israel's restrictions on and denial of medical supplies and the fuel hospitals need to function," Alhendawi continued. "This cannot be what world powers allow children to return to. When children are slaughtered en masse, humanity's moral and legal foundations crumble. We have seen it for ourselves: The only way to ensure children and families are protected as international law requires is through a cease-fire. This time, it must be definitive—the constant threat of war cannot be left hanging over their heads."

He added that "until then, even wars have laws, and those laws are clear. Civilians must be actively protected, with concrete steps taken to avoid and minimize civilian casualties. There is no military imperative that can justify atrocity crimes. And the international community must use all available means—exhaustively, not selectively—to ensure international law is upheld. Anything less is a global failure—not a mistake, not a regrettable dilemma, but a total dereliction of legal duty. Failure to act now risks the annihilation of children and their futures."

Global demands for a renewed cease-fire have mounted over the past week as Israel has returned to a full-blown military assault, backed by a U.S. government now controlled by President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in Congress.

"During the 42-day cease-fire families in Gaza could finally fall asleep knowing their loved ones would still be beside them when they woke up," Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam's policy lead for the occupied Palestinian territories, said Monday. "Even though aid that entered was not enough—far from enough—it was something. The price of food stabilized. Supermarkets reopened. Bakeries began running again. Many people even went to their homes or what was left of it, and tried to repair and rebuild, however little they could."

Khalidi explained that "Oxfam, through its partners has been able to initiate emergency water trucking across the Gaza Strip, and are maintaining some other aid programs, such as multipurpose cash transfers, despite the severe challenges that all humanitarian workers now face around lack of protection."

"For the past 535 days, Israel has been systematically weaponizing lifesaving aid, inflicting collective punishment upon the population of Gaza," she continued. "The denial of food, water, fuel and electricity is a war crime and a crime against humanity. Many within the international community are enabling this by their silence, inaction, and complicity."

Oxfam called for a permanent cease-fire, the safe return of Israeli hostages and illegally detained Palestinian prisoners, "unfettered aid at scale," and other governments to stop transferring arms to the involved parties. The group also said that "we reiterate our call for justice and accountability for all those affected."

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas leader who has since been confirmed dead.