Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, in addition to war crimes in the occupied West Bank, according to an independent U.N. inquiry.
The report, published 23 June, states that this targeting resulted in the death of at least 20,179 Palestinian children, and the injury of 44,143 more over the span of three years, from 2023 to 2026. Killings have continued after the October 2025 ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
It adds that 30 percent of all Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in Gaza were children.
According to the report, Israeli acts “form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children.” The report adds that this finding is central to establishing genocidal intent on the part of Israel to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian group in Gaza.
Last September, the same commission concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A 2025 report stated that Israeli authorities and security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Israel called the September 2025 report “libelous”.
Additionally, the inquiry examines the “sharp increase in violence perpetrated by members of Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem”.
In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, comprising a three-member expert panel.
Against a background of continued persecution and marginalisation in Gaza, Israel launched a war on the Strip following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. At least 73,035 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza since then, as per the Hamas-run health ministry.
In a statement accompanying the recent report, Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry, stated that “violence against women and children contribute to the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities”.
Muralidhar also called for an end to the unlawful Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a response to the UN inquiry, claiming the report “is anything but independent”. It also states that the report is “replete with errors and distortions, the sole purpose of which is to advance its politically-driven anti-Israel narrative”.
The report concludes that attacks and closures of children’s hospitals resulted in a systematic denial of vital medical services for Palestinian children, including the complete collapse of neonatal care in Gaza. The commission also describes widespread shortages of medicines, anaesthetics, and surgical equipment, leading to highly unsafe operating conditions.
Regarding education, the report states that Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza have effectively eliminated access to education for Palestinian children in the territory.
It further concludes that the scale of educational disruption in Gaza threatens the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society.
The report also highlights the psychological harm inflicted on Palestinian children following the destruction of Gaza’s mental health infrastructure.
It states that the vast majority of Gaza’s 1.2 million children required psychosocial and mental health support, while suicidal thoughts were found to be common among Palestinian children.
Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon has sparked widespread international condemnation. The Egyptian Government has continually condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, as have other European governments, such as Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
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