AT LEAST 74 children have been killed by relentless violence in the Gaza Strip in the first seven days of 2025, the United Nation's children’s fund (Unicef) said today.

Children have been killed in several mass casualty events, including nighttime attacks in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and al-Mawasi, a unilaterally designated “safe zone,” the agency said in a press release today — that didn’t once mention Israel or Hamas.

“The most recent attack, [on Tuesday], saw five children reportedly killed in al-Mawasi,” the statement said.

Unicef executive director Catherine Russell was quoted in the release, saying: “For the children of Gaza, the new year has brought more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold.

”A ceasefire is long overdue. Too many children have been killed or lost loved ones in a tragic start to the new year.”

Since December 26, at least eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia.

“Unicef has long warned that inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and healthcare, the dire sanitary situation, and now the winter weather puts the lives of all children in Gaza at risk,” Ms Russell said.

“The parties to the conflict and the international community must act urgently to end the violence, alleviate suffering, and ensure that all hostages, especially the two remaining children, are released.

“Families need an end to this unimaginable suffering and heartbreak.”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) again called on Israel today to let its teams deliver desperately needed aid into Gaza.

The IFRC warned that the dire weather was “exacerbating the unbearable conditions” in Gaza, as families are left “clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets.”

Late on Tuesday, IFRC secretary-general Jagan Chapagain demanded that Israel to allows “safe and unhindered access to humanitarians to let them provide life-saving assistance” to the people in Gaza.

“Without safe access, children will freeze to death. Without safe access, families will starve. Without safe access, humanitarian workers can’t save lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported today that, according to its medical sources, at least 50 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks since the early hours of Tuesday.