UN commission: Israel committed genocide and deliberately targeted children in Gaza

A UN independent international commission of inquiry has concluded that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza and that its conduct constitutes genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The report, published on June 23, 2026, covers the period since October 7, 2023, and documents the killing of at least 20,179 children and wounding of 44,143 more. Israel has flatly rejected the findings, calling the report a "defamatory fraud."

A United Nations independent international commission of inquiry published a sweeping report on June 23, 2026, concluding that Israel has deliberately and systematically targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, and that its military campaign since October 7, 2023 amounts to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, with additional war crimes documented in the occupied West Bank.

Scale of Child Casualties

The report covers events from October 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, prompting Israel to launch its military campaign in Gaza. According to the commission, at least 20,179 Palestinian children have been killed and 44,143 wounded since then. Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry puts the total death toll across all ages at a minimum of 73,035, with more than 21,280 of those being children. The UN considers the ministry's data broadly reliable.

The commission, composed of three independent experts operating under a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council, found that Palestinian children have been targeted with precision weapons, quadcopter drones, sniper rifles, and high-explosive munitions. The report also describes strikes on residential buildings, schools, and displacement camps packed with civilians.

Torture, Starvation, and Systematic Disruption

Beyond direct violence, the commission documents torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian children, particularly during mass arrests and detention. The report states that children, especially adolescent boys, have been arrested, tortured, and mistreated in Israeli prisons and detention facilities in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Israeli strikes on neonatal wards and children's hospitals have, according to the commission, denied children access to life-saving care, reducing the survival prospects of an already protected group. The commission also accuses Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare, warning that restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza have caused acute and chronic malnutrition among children, eliminating the basic conditions they need to survive.

The report further charges that through mass displacement, attacks, and the forced closure of educational institutions, Israeli authorities have «systematically disrupted children's ability to learn, thereby sabotaging the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society itself.»

Commission Chair's Statement

Srinivasan Muralidhar, the Indian jurist chairing the commission, was unequivocal in his findings. «Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children are being killed and grievously injured. Israel continues to disregard the ceasefire and the protections owed to Palestinian children under international law,» he said. «The protection, welfare, and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable parts of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. By targeting children, Israel is attacking the Palestinian people's ability to exist and determine their own future,» he added.

The commission also examined events following an October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Since that agreement, Gaza's health ministry reports that more than 1,020 Palestinians have been killed, including 265 children, while the Israeli military says four of its own soldiers have also been killed.

Israel's Rejection

Israel's foreign ministry categorically rejected the report, calling it a «defamatory fraud» and «just as unprecedented a propaganda piece as its predecessors.» Israeli leaders have consistently denied genocide accusations, maintaining that military operations in Gaza constitute legitimate self-defence against Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and that the Israel Defense Forces operate in accordance with international law and take all feasible precautions to minimise civilian harm.

According to Reuters, Israel asserts it works to reduce harm to children. Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that the share of civilian casualties in Gaza stands at approximately 53 percent of all losses, a figure contradicted by the majority of international organisations, including The Guardian, Action on Armed Violence, and the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which put the figure at a minimum of 80 percent.

Broader Legal Context

This is not the commission's first such finding. Last September, the body accused Israel of genocide, concluding there was sufficient evidence that Israeli authorities had committed four of the five acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Israel rejected those findings as distorted and false. The commission has also previously found that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and other serious violations of international law.

Separately, the International Court of Justice is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, a case Israel has dismissed as entirely unfounded and based on false claims. A ruling could take years to emerge.