UN inquiry alleges Israel deliberately targeted children in Gaza, calling it genocide
A UN-appointed commission says Israeli forces have intentionally attacked Palestinian children in Gaza, constituting genocide and other war crimes, while Israel rejects the findings as unfounded.
A United Nations independent commission of inquiry released a report accusing Israeli authorities and security forces of deliberately targeting Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, describing the actions as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The three-member panel said it has reasonable grounds to conclude that the attacks form part of a strategy to destroy the future of Palestinians by focusing on children.
The commission detailed that Israeli operations used precision weapons, including drones and snipers, against vital organs of children in residential areas, schools and displacement camps, and that similar violations occurred in the occupied West Bank. It also documented arrests, torture, sexual and gender-based violence against children, attacks on pediatric hospitals, and restrictions on humanitarian aid that have led to severe malnutrition.
Israel’s foreign ministry responded by "utterly rejecting" the report, labeling it a "libellous sham" and a propaganda piece, and claimed the commission lacks credible verification mechanisms. The ministry added that the report ignores Israeli children killed and kidnapped by Hamas and portrays Israel as being singled out for vilification.
The commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. It previously concluded that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes on 7 October 2023, and that Israeli forces have committed crimes against humanity in Gaza. The latest findings come amid ongoing accusations from both sides of cease-fire violations after the October truce brokered by the United States.