Israel’s deliberate targeting of Gaza children part of genocide: UN inquiry

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkChildren watch from atop a promontory overlooking shelters for people displaced by war, as smoke billows in the background near the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip [File: AFP]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 23 Jun 202623 Jun 2026A United Nations Commission of Inquiry says Israel continues to deliberately target and kill Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and war crimes in the occupied West Bank.In a report published on Tuesday, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined Israeli violations against Palestinian children since the start of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The ICC must investigate Israel’s genocidal use of sexual violencelist 2 of 3Gaza’s surfers seek solace from war in the Mediterranean Sealist 3 of 3Football, war and solidarity: Why Gaza fans turned to Spain this World Cupend of listThe report found that around 30 percent of people killed in Gaza since the start of the war were children.The report noted that Israel’s targeting of neonatal and maternity care centres during its war in Gaza directly endangered Palestinians’ reproductive future and the survival of newborns — driving a rise in miscarriages, birth defects and lasting vulnerabilities.It found that Israel’s aid blockade in Gaza last year also took a severe toll on Palestinian children, causing starvation-related deaths and a rise in disease as immunisation rates fell.“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of 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.”The commission was established on May 27, 2021 during a special session on the UN Human Rights Council. It was set up to investigate alleged violations of international law and human rights abuses and look into the “root causes” of conflict between Israel and Palestine.In a September 2025 report, the commission concluded that there were reasonable grounds to determine that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.It said Israel carried out four of the five prohibited acts defining genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention, including killings, causing serious bodily and mental harm, inflicting conditions to destroy a group and imposing measures to prevent the group from reproducing.More than 50,000 children have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since Israel began its war on Gaza, according to the UN children’s agency (UNICEF).The agency noted that one Palestinian child has been killed every day on average for more than eight months in Gaza, since the so-called “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect last October.On Monday, the UN also warned that children are being left “increasingly unprotected” as humanitarian groups and rights defenders are forced to scale back their operations in the Palestinian territories.Besides being killed or injured, the report said that Palestinian children have been arrested and subjected to torture in Israeli prisons and other severe forms of mistreatment, including sexual abuse.Palestinians across the occupied territories, including children, have faced a surge in arrests and detention since Israel launched the war on Gaza.More than half of the Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons at the end of last year were being held without charge or trial, a Palestinian rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), said in March. The UN report also noted that, besides Gaza, Israeli forces have destroyed orphanages and education facilities in the occupied West Bank, which has affected Palestinian children’s cognitive, social and emotional care and development.The UN Commission said it has identified Israeli military units that have been responsible for targeting children and called on Israel to cease its violence against Palestinian children.“Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight,” Muralidhar said.“The protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” he added.“By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”