GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The ceasefire declared in Gaza more than eight months ago is a “deadly illusion”, the United Nations (UN) charged on Friday, with 265 children killed there since the fighting was supposed to have stopped.

Despite a ceasefire being declared in October 2025, Israel has continued to launch strikes across Gaza, killing at least 992 Palestinians since then, according to the occupied territory’s health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the number of Palestinian children killed since the ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, which runs Gaza, was an “absurd and devastating figure”.