A UN commission of inquiry says Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as well as war crimes in the occupied West Bank.
The report alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces intentionally carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children, and that the killings continued even after last October’s ceasefire in Gaza.
The commission holds that these acts form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children.
Israel’s foreign ministry rejects the report, calling it a libellous sham and a propaganda piece. It argues that Israeli forces act in self‑defence and comply with international law, insisting they take all feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians.
According to the Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable, at least 73,035 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, including more than 21,280 children, since the conflict erupted on 7 October 2023.
The commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. It is a three‑member expert panel and does not officially speak for the UN.
Last September, the same commission accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, concluding that four of the five acts of genocide defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention had been carried out by Israeli authorities. Israel rejected that report as distorted and false.
The report claims Israel targeted Palestinian children directly by shooting at vital organs using precision weapons such as quadcopter drones and snipers, and by employing high‑impact weapons in strikes on residential buildings, schools and displacement camps crowded with children.
Israel is also legally responsible for failing to protect Palestinian children from being targeted by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.
The commission documents incidents of sexual and gender‑based violence against Palestinian children, often during arrests or in detention, and notes that Israeli attacks on neonatal and paediatric hospitals in Gaza have systematically dismantled children’s access to life‑sustaining care.
It accuses Israel of using starvation as a method of war, warning that restrictions on humanitarian aid have caused acute and chronic malnutrition among children in Gaza.
According to the report, Israeli authorities have systematically disrupted children’s ability to learn by attacking schools, mass displacement and enforced closures, sabotaging the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society.
Israel’s foreign ministry condemns the report as fundamentally flawed, claiming it vilifies Israel without presenting credible verification. It argues the commission neglects the plight of Israeli children, who have also been targeted by Hamas and other armed groups.
The International Court of Justice is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israeli forces of genocide, but it may take years to reach a conclusion. Israel has termed the case wholly unfounded.
