UN Commission Accusations Against Israel
A United Nations commission of inquiry has asserted that Israel has intentionally targeted Palestinian children, leading to acts constituting genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The commission also cited war crimes in the occupied West Bank.
According to a new report, Israeli authorities and security forces are alleged to have "deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children." The report claims these fatalities persisted even after a ceasefire in Gaza last October.
The commission stated it possesses reasonable grounds to conclude that these actions "form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children."
Israel's Rejection of the Report
Israel's foreign ministry has "utterly rejected" the commission's report, labeling it a "libellous sham" and a "propaganda piece as outrageous as its previous ones."
The Israeli military initiated its campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken. Since then, over 73,035 individuals have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, including more than 21,280 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are generally considered reliable by the UN.
Background of the Commission and Previous Findings
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel was established in 2021 by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. It is important to note that its three-member expert panel does not officially represent the UN.
In September of last year, the commission previously accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. A report from that time indicated reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five acts of genocide, as defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, had been carried out by Israeli authorities and security forces. Israel strongly refuted that report, deeming it distorted and false.
The commission has also previously concluded that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and other severe violations of international law on October 7, 2023, and that Israeli security forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
Ongoing Allegations and Impacts on Children
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was agreed upon last October as part of a US-brokered plan. Since then, both parties have accused each other of repeated violations. Gaza's health ministry reports over 1,020 Palestinian deaths, including 265 children, since the ceasefire. The Israeli military has reported four soldiers killed during this period.
On Tuesday, the commission stated that the "intense scale and systematic nature" of Israeli military operations in Gaza have persisted, leading to "unprecedented death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children." Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission's chairman, emphasized that "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." He added, "By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future."
The new report details that Israel has allegedly targeted Palestinian children in Gaza directly through precision weapons, such as quadcopter drones and snipers, and by using high-impact weapons in strikes on residential buildings, schools, and displacement camps crowded with children. It also asserts that Israel is legally responsible for failing to protect Palestinian children from being targeted by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.
Further allegations include that children in Gaza and the West Bank, particularly adolescent boys, have been "arrested, tortured, and ill-treated in Israeli prisons and detention facilities." The report also documented "incidents of sexual and gender-based violence targeting Palestinian children, often during arrests or in detention."
Attacks on neonatal and pediatric hospitals in Gaza have reportedly "systematically dismantled children's access to life-sustaining care, undermining their survival as a protected group." The report also accuses Israel of employing starvation as a method of war, warning that restrictions on humanitarian aid entry into Gaza have "produced acute and chronic malnutrition among children in Gaza, removing the basic conditions necessary for their survival." Additionally, it alleges that through attacks on schools, mass displacement, and enforced closures, Israeli authorities have "systematically disrupted children's ability to learn, thereby sabotaging the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society itself."
Israel's Defense and International Proceedings
The Israeli foreign ministry condemned the report, stating the commission is a "fundamentally flawed mechanism whose very purpose is to single out and vilify Israel rather than seek the truth." It further argued that the report "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," and accused the commission of lacking "any credible verification mechanism for its claims."
Israeli leaders have consistently denied allegations of genocide, maintaining that its military operations in Gaza are acts of self-defense aimed at defeating Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and securing the release of Israeli hostages. They have also insisted that Israeli forces operate in accordance with international law and take all feasible measures to minimize harm to civilians.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently reviewing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israeli forces of genocide, though a conclusion could take years. Israel has dismissed the case as "wholly unfounded" and based on "biased and false claims."
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