UN inquiry finds Israel targeted Palestinian children, says acts amount to genocide

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, headed by former High Court Chief Justice S Muralidhar, has concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children. The Commission reported that Israel carried out crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts that further substantiate their earlier findings of genocide in Gaza.

Muralidhar described it as the first specialised UN investigative report focused exclusively on crimes and violations committed against Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The findings are contained in a 100-page report released June 23 by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. 

The commission is chaired by former High Court Chief Justice and Senior Advocate S Muralidhar, with Florence Mumba of Zambia and Chris Sidoti of Australia serving as members.

The report examines violations and crimes committed against Palestinian children between October 7, 2023, and March 31, 2026. It states that Israeli authorities and security forces "have deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children". and that these acts form part of "a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children."

The commission said it had reasonable grounds to conclude that the killings, injuries, starvation, denial of healthcare and destruction of educational institutions formed part of a broader strategy aimed at undermining the future of Palestinian society.

 The commission added that the protection, care and survival of Palestinian children were inseparable from the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and that attacks on children weakened the ability of Palestinians to determine their future as a people.

Presenting the report, Muralidhar said the commission found "indisputable evidence with regard to the deliberate targeted killing of Palestinian children."

"Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood. Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces are responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," the report states.

According to the report, at least 20,179 Palestinian children were killed and 44,143 injured in Gaza between October 2023 and October 2025. Children accounted for nearly 30% of all deaths in the Occupied Palestinian Territory during the period reviewed. The commission said the actual number could be higher, with thousands of children believed to remain buried beneath rubble or listed as missing.

The commission said the scale of harm to children was unprecedented in modern conflicts. Citing UNICEF, it noted that Gaza had become "the most dangerous place in the world to be a child." The report also highlighted the long-term consequences of injuries, stating that more than 1,000 children underwent amputations during the first three months of the conflict and that at least 21,000 children had acquired disabilities during the war.

The commission documented what it described as a consistent pattern of children being killed through airstrikes involving explosive weapons in populated areas, as well as targeted attacks using sniper rifles and quadcopter drones. It cited multiple case studies, including incidents in which children were allegedly shot while evacuating with their families, inside displacement camps, or while carrying white flags.

Among the incidents cited in the report was the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, whose family car was allegedly fired upon by Israeli forces in Gaza City in January 2024. The commission concluded that Israeli forces deliberately targeted the family despite being able to see that children were inside the vehicle and subsequently obstructed rescue efforts by shelling an ambulance dispatched to assist them.

The report also documents the case of a 15-year-old boy who was allegedly shot while carrying a white flag during an evacuation in Khan Younis and the subsequent killing of his brother when he attempted to reach him. The commission further examined incidents involving a 10-day-old infant allegedly shot in the head while being breastfed inside a tent and a four-year-old girl allegedly shot by a quadcopter while eating with her family in a displacement camp.

The report further alleges that Israeli military operations continued to harm children even after the October 2025 ceasefire. According to the commission, more than 100 children were killed after the ceasefire came into effect, while hundreds more were injured. It said children continued to be targeted near a military-controlled "yellow line" established inside Gaza following the truce.

"The intense scale and systematic nature" of Israeli military operations in Gaza had continued, resulting in "unprecedented death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children", the commission said.

"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," Muralidhar said.

The report also documents what it describes as a severe orphan crisis. An estimated 58,054 children lost one or both parents between October 2023 and October 2025.

The commission further found that Israeli attacks and restrictions had severely damaged Gaza's healthcare and education systems. It stated that attacks on neonatal and paediatric hospitals had systematically dismantled children's access to life-sustaining healthcare. The report recorded 151 child deaths linked to malnutrition as of October 2025 and accused Israel of using starvation as a method of war by restricting humanitarian aid.

In the education sector, the report found that 97% of schools in Gaza had been destroyed or damaged, while 95% of universities had been affected. 22 of Gaza's 38 universities were reportedly completely destroyed. The commission said these actions had systematically disrupted children's ability to learn and undermined the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society.

The commission said the destruction extended beyond immediate casualties and amounted to an assault on the future of Palestinian children. It found that attacks on schools, repeated displacement and restrictions on education had systematically disrupted children's ability to learn and sabotaged the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society.

The report also examines the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where it documents the killing and injury of Palestinian children, arrests, detention, torture, ill-treatment and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence. The commission concluded that settler violence functions as a mechanism for implementing Israeli state policies and that state authorities and violent settler groups were pursuing a common objective of unlawful territorial expansion.

Based on the evidence collected, the commission concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces were responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution, as well as war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.

"The report released today further substantiates our finding on genocide. By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future," Muralidhar said.

The report also examined developments in the West Bank, concluding that settler violence functions as a mechanism for implementing Israeli state policies and facilitating unlawful territorial expansion.

At the same time, the commission reiterated its findings from a report released earlier this month that Hamas had committed grave abuses against Palestinians in Gaza, including repression, torture and unlawful killings.

The commission welcomed judicial investigations initiated in several countries concerning events in Gaza and urged member states and international institutions to pursue accountability measures aimed at ending impunity and ensuring both state and individual responsibility for violations of international law.

Israel rejected the report, with its foreign ministry describing it as a "libellous sham" and a "propaganda piece". The ministry said the commission was a fundamentally flawed mechanism aimed at vilifying Israel rather than seeking the truth.

"It completely erases Israeli children who were brutally murdered, kidnapped, and targeted by Hamas, while ignoring Hamas' cynical use of Palestinian children as human shields and pawns of war," the ministry said.

Israeli leaders have consistently denied allegations of genocide and maintain that military operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 hostages taken. Israel has also maintained that its forces operate in accordance with international law and take measures to minimise civilian harm.

The findings come as the International Court of Justice continues to hear South Africa's genocide case against Israel. The proceedings are expected to take years before a final ruling is delivered.