WASHINGTON

An average of 28 children are being killed each day in Gaza amid Israel's restrictions on the delivery of direly needed humanitarian assistance and a collapse of vital services, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in on Monday.

"Death by bombardments. Death by malnutrition and starvation. Death by lack of aid and vital services," said a post by UNICEF on X. "In Gaza, an average of 28 children a day — the size of a classroom — have been killed."

The agency stressed that children in Gaza are in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and protection, adding: “More than anything, they need a ceasefire, NOW.”

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. Israel’s military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.