The United Nations Children’s Fund has described Gaza as “the most dangerous place on earth for children,” warning that one million minors are enduring what it called “daily horrors” amid the devastation left by the ongoing genocidal war. The organisation said that words fail to capture the suffering of Gaza’s youngest generation, with tens of thousands killed, injured, or orphaned since the beginning of the war.

UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, stated that the agency is struggling to expand its emergency response as famine tightens its grip on the besieged enclave. He urged the immediate opening of all crossings to allow aid to flow freely, noting that even with increased deliveries, assistance remains “far from sufficient” to meet the population’s needs.

According to UNICEF, more than 64,000 children have been killed or wounded, and at least 58,000 have lost one or both parents. Many now face starvation and disease in overcrowded shelters, surviving without clean water or medical care. The agency stressed that the suffering is not a consequence of natural disaster but of human action, a direct result of the relentless Israeli bombardment and blockade.

Beyond emergency relief, UNICEF has sought to protect Gaza’s children’s right to education, reporting that around 100,000 have returned to learning despite the destruction, with plans to reintegrate hundreds of thousands more. Yet for most, classrooms remain rubble, and childhood itself has become a casualty of war.