Gaza ceasefire a 'deadly illusion': UNICEF

GENEVA, Jun 19: The ceasefire declared in Gaza more than eight months ago is a "deadly illusion", the UN charged on Friday, with 265 children killed there since the fighting was supposed to have stopped.

The UN children's agency 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".

"During a period supposedly defined by restraint and protection, a child has been killed, on average, every single day for more than eight months," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Amman.

"For many, many months, the world has been told there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Yet for Palestinian children, this so-called ceasefire has become a cruel and a deadly illusion."�" AFP