UN Inquiry Says Israel Deliberately Targeted Palestinian Children in Gaza
UN report alleges genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity as child death toll surpasses 20,000
Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children during its military campaign in Gaza, committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, according to a United Nations commission of inquiry report released this week.
The report alleges Israeli authorities and security forces intentionally targeted Palestinian children throughout the conflict, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025.
The report, released by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, says Israeli military actions inflicted death, severe injury and psychological trauma on Palestinian children as part of a broader military strategy in Gaza.
According to the commission, at least 20,179 Palestinian children had been killed by October 2025, representing around 30 per cent of all deaths recorded during the conflict.
The commission noted this was significantly higher than in previous Gaza conflicts. During Israeli military operations in 2008–09 and 2014, children accounted for approximately 24 per cent of conflict-related deaths.
The inquiry said the higher proportion of child fatalities was one of several factors that raised serious concerns about the nature and conduct of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The commission concluded that the scale of child deaths, combined with the methods used and the conditions imposed on Gaza’s civilian population, showed evidence of genocidal intent.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said.
“This indicates that such attacks, which killed children in such high numbers, were intentional.”
The report states that Israeli forces continued to use high-impact explosives and wide-area weapons in densely populated civilian areas despite mounting child casualties.
It also found that deaths and injuries were not limited to direct attacks.
The commission said repeated displacement, destruction of hospitals, attacks on reproductive healthcare, and restrictions on food, aid and medicine had created living conditions that caused widespread suffering and preventable deaths among children.
The report paints a grim picture of daily life in Gaza, where malnutrition, disease and psychological trauma have become widespread.
Nearly all children in Gaza are now believed to require psychological support.
The commission argues that the destruction of civilian life has gone beyond immediate military objectives and directly threatens the long-term survival of Palestinian society.
Its conclusion is stark: by targeting children, the future of the Palestinian people is being targeted.
The findings also raise concerns about continuing civilian deaths after the October 2025 ceasefire.
According to the report and humanitarian agencies, hundreds of children have continued to die in Gaza even after formal ceasefire arrangements took effect.
The report also examined conditions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where it found rising violence against Palestinian children.
It documented allegations of torture, beatings, forced stripping, food deprivation and sexual violence during arrests and detention.
The commission concluded that such treatment constituted crimes against humanity.
Israel has strongly rejected the report.
Israel’s mission in Geneva dismissed the findings as defamatory and politically motivated, saying the report ignored the security threat posed by Hamas and other armed groups.
In a formal rebuttal, Israel said it rejects “in the strongest terms” claims that it deliberately targets children.
Israeli authorities maintain they take steps to minimise civilian casualties and accuse Hamas of operating within civilian areas and diverting humanitarian aid.
The release of the report is expected to intensify international pressure on Israel and add to growing calls for accountability through international legal bodies, including the International Criminal Court.
The findings are among the most serious made by a UN body since the war began.
At the centre of the report is a deeply troubling claim: that the killing, injury and trauma inflicted on children is not merely a tragic consequence of war, but a deliberate strategy with long-term consequences for an entire people.
