Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, as well as war crimes in the occupied West Bank, an independent UN inquiry said on Tuesday.
The report by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
The commission said Palestinian children were deliberately targeted during the conflict, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025, arguing that this was a key element in establishing genocidal intent.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar said in a statement accompanying the report.
According to the inquiry, at least 20,179 children were killed between October 2023 and October 2025, accounting for about 30 per cent of the overall death toll.
By comparison, in hostilities in Gaza in 2008–2009 and 2014, children made up approximately 24 per cent of conflict-related fatalities, the report said.
The commission said Israeli forces continued to use high-payload munitions and other wide-area weapons in densely populated areas despite mounting child casualties.
“This indicates that such attacks, which killed children in such high numbers, were intentional,” the report said.
The inquiry also found that conditions imposed in Gaza, including repeated displacement, widespread attacks and restrictions on aid, food and medicine, had severely harmed children's health and development.
It said attacks on healthcare and reproductive facilities contributed to preventable deaths, increased miscarriages and widespread psychological trauma among children.
In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the commission reported a sharp rise in settler violence against Palestinian children and documented evidence of torture and other forms of mistreatment during arrests and detention.
It said Palestinian children, particularly boys, were subjected to beatings, forced stripping and food deprivation, concluding that the treatment amounted to crimes against humanity.
At the same time, the dismantling and destruction of orphanages and education facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have obstructed children’s cognitive, social and emotional care and development and disrupted the foundations of Palestinian society, according to the commission.
“Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight,” Mr Muralidhar said. “The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
The targeting of children is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society and the capacity of Palestinians to sustain and exercise their right to determine their future as a people.
“The protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” Mr Muralidhar said. “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”
Israel rejected the commission's findings.
Israel's mission in Geneva described the report as the commission's “second defamatory advocacy report” and said: “Israel dismisses this libellous sham.”
The mission said Israel “consistently strives to minimise harm to children even in situations of conflict” and rejected “in the strongest terms” any suggestion that it deliberately targets children.
Israel also accused the report of ignoring what it called Hamas's tactics and failing to acknowledge Israeli efforts to facilitate vaccinations, allow medical personnel into Gaza and establish field hospitals. It further accused Hamas of diverting humanitarian aid and fuel intended for hospitals, an allegation Hamas has denied.
A previous report by the commission, published in September, accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and said senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited such acts. Israel rejected those allegations as “scandalous”.
