A UN report published on Tuesday has concluded that Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocities by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, released the findings of its report on Tuesday.
“Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank,” the report said.
The Commission, which concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza last year, found that the systematic nature of Israeli military operations has continued — leading to the death, injury, and trauma of Palestinian children.
The report emphasised that deliberately targeting children is one of the key elements of establishing genocidal intent, which seeks to destroy the Palestinians as a people in Gaza, in whole or in part.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.”
Injuries and effects inflicted on the children include severe physical and mental injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, repeated displacement, starvation, and the collapse of education and healthcare.
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All this has “erased childhood and will continue to affect children in Gaza throughout their lives”.
Sexual violence and torture
Palestinian children have also been subjected to torture and other severe forms of mistreatment in Israeli prisons and detention centres, with many parents and families having no idea where their children are.
Israeli forces have also used sexual violence against children as a process of collective punishment, oppression, and shaming.
Neonatal and maternity care centres in Gaza have also been directly targeted, destroyed, or damaged, which has had a devastating effect on the survival of newborns and the reproductive future of Gaza.
As a result, there has been a direct rise in miscarriages, birth defects, and lasting vulnerabilities among newborns.
Starvation imposed by Israel’s genocidal policies has also severely impacted the general health of the entire population of Gaza, as essential nutrition is denied, disease risks increase and destroyed health services simply cannot keep up with the number of cases.
Orphanages and education facilities
“In parallel, the dismantling and destruction of orphanages and education facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have obstructed children’s cognitive, social and emotional care and development and disrupted the foundations of Palestinian society,” the report said.
“Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight,” said Muralidhar. “The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
“The protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” said Muralidhar. “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”
The Commission called for Israel to cease committing violations and crimes that affect Palestinian children and identified specific military units within Israeli security forces responsible for killing and injuring Palestinian children.
“The international community as a whole must uphold their international legal obligations and call for an end to the hostilities, for Israel to end its occupation and to prioritise accountability and access to justice for victims as an integral component of any political process, grounded in the meaningful participation of Palestinians, including children.”
Israel has strongly rejected the report, describing it as biased, defamatory and politically-motivated. Israeli officials denied that children were deliberately targeted and accused the UN commission of ignoring Hamas’s role in the conflict. They argued that the report was based on a predetermined anti-Israel agenda and reiterated that the Israeli military targets Hamas militants rather than civilians.
Israel also maintained that civilian casualties in Gaza are a consequence of Hamas operating within densely populated civilian areas and using civilian infrastructure. The Israeli government further argued that the UN Human Rights Council has a long history of disproportionate focus on Israel and cannot be regarded as an impartial forum.
