UN commission accuses Israel of genocide through deliberate targeting of Palestinian children

A new phase of the inquiry

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel released a follow-up report on Tuesday, concluding that Israeli security forces have deliberately killed and harmed Palestinian children. The commission says these acts are part of a genocidal intent to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.

The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces.

The report, covering the period from the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, documents systematic destruction of orphanages, schools and healthcare facilities, along with arbitrary arrests, torture and sexual violence against children in detention.

Child casualties and comparisons

Between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed in Gaza, accounting for around 30% of the overall death toll. The commission notes this proportion is markedly higher than in previous hostilities: children made up approximately 24% of fatalities in the 2008-2009 and 2014 conflicts.

Israeli forces used high-payload munitions and weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas despite mounting child deaths. The commission said children were targeted collectively because security forces viewed the civilian population as linked to Hamas and other armed groups. At least 5,031 of those killed were under the age of five.

Israel’s rejection of the findings

Israel’s mission in Geneva called the report a “libellous sham” and “a propaganda piece as outrageous as its previous ones.” Israel said the commission ignored the brutal tactics of Hamas, which attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields.

Israel dismisses this libellous sham.

Israel also argued the report omitted its facilitation of vaccination campaigns, field hospitals and entry of medical personnel into Gaza. The foreign ministry added that tens of thousands of Israeli children had to be relocated after the Hamas attack.

Destruction beyond the battlefield

The commission found that attacks on maternity and neonatal units, combined with a blockade on humanitarian aid including food and medicine, led to preventable deaths and a rise in miscarriages. Nearly all children in Gaza now require psychological support. The report documents Palestinian children subjected to torture and sexual violence in Israeli prisons as part of collective humiliation and repression.

Even if the bombs and weapons fall silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not recover overnight. The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.

The commission says childhood has been “erased” in Gaza and the lasting harm will affect an entire generation.

Timeline of findings and the ceasefire

The commission had already determined in September 2025 that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, naming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as one of those inciting such acts. In October 2025, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump, but both sides have since accused each other of violations. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,020 Palestinians have been killed after the truce took effect, while UNICEF estimates at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every day in the eight months since.