Israel committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by intentionally injuring and killing children in military operations in Gaza and surrounding areas, a United Nations task force charges.
More than 20,100 Palestinian children have been killed and 44,000 wounded by Israeli military and security forces since Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, according to the report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the independent inquiry charged with investigating Israeli actions in occupied Palestine. “Even after the October 2025 cease-fire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the cease-fire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.”
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces.”
The study follows the commission’s August 2025 report declaring Israel committed “the crime of genocide” in carrying out operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The June 18 report says Israel employed torture and degrading and inhumane treatment against Palestinian children, including gender-based and sexual violence, during mass arrests and detentions, and also by denying health care and other infrastructure essential to the well-being of children. It also reported attacks against schools and orphanages.
The commission also studied “the impact of the conditions of life imposed by Israel in Gaza resulting in preventable mortality of children, exacerbating morbidity and serious mental trauma from the relentless and widespread attacks by Israel over two years — collectively revealing severe, multi-layered harm to Palestinian children’s survival, health and development.”
The study further reported disturbing instances of Israeli soldiers mocking symbols of childhood in Gaza, “raising ethical, disciplinary and legal questions about the conduct of the Israeli security forces during the ground invasion of Gaza.”
Wounded Palestinians lie on the floor in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following an explosion there, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike caused the explosion that killed hundreds at al-Ahli, but the Israeli military says it was a misfired Palestinian rocket. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Israel’s attacks against Gazan health care facilities included targeting pediatric hospitals and neonatal care centers that already were struggling to operate amid Israel’s blockade of the region.
“Short-term complications will include infants not meeting motor developmental milestones within the first year of life. In the medium term, children will be unable to develop speech and meet language milestones, and their cognitive abilities could be impaired in the long-term,” the report states. “A doctor summarized the situation by saying that the essence of childhood has been destroyed in Gaza.”
“A doctor summarized the situation by saying that the essence of childhood has been destroyed in Gaza.”
The commission said it uncovered war crime acts “of a sexual nature” based on gender and Palestinian identity, done to exact revenge for the Hamas’ attack on Israel. “Palestinian boys have been photographed and filmed in humiliating and degrading circumstances while subjected to acts of a sexual nature, including forced public nudity.”
In one case, a witness described a female soldier in Gaza forcing two teenage boys, already stripped of their underwear, to dance before other detainees as she laughed and recorded a video of the incident.
“The commission finds that Palestinian boys and girls have been subjected to forced public nudity by the Israeli security forces, constituting sexual and gender-based violence. In all the cases of forced public nudity against children documented by the commission, the children were forced to undress in the presence of adults, including family members and their community.”
Such actions constitute sexual violence and are war crimes, the report states. “The failure to separate boys and girls from adults in these instances and the failure to treat them in accordance with their age and gender are violations of international law and the special protection afforded to children.”
Under the subhead “Extermination and Willful Killing,” the report describes a variety of war crimes Israelis committed against children, ranging from drone attacks to direct attacks by military troops. Children in Gaza also have been labeled as “terrorists” by Israeli military and government officials.
“The Israeli security forces have intentionally killed Palestinian children through airstrikes on densely populated residential areas using high payload munitions and weapons with wide-area impact and through direct targeting of children,” the report says.
The study cites accounts from other organizations “detailing serious allegations concerning the conditions for detained children, including instances of torture, starvation, deprivation of water, sanitation and hygiene, along with prolonged denial of access to toilet, resulting in painful infections.”
The effects of Israel’s actions also have caused psychological harms so great that Palestinian children may never recover any sense of safety or belief in a future for themselves, their families and communities, Muralidhar said. “Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight. The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide and vehemently condemned the commission’s latest report as “a libelous sham” and “a propaganda piece” that is “outrageous” and “fundamentally flawed.”
“Using the demagoguery of modern blood libels to defame Israel, the COI actively conceals clear evidence of terrorist atrocities. It 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. The COI also lacks any credible verification mechanism for its claims.”
According to reports from the United Nations Human Rights Office and organizations like Save the Children, more than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed since October 2023. In comparison, the number of Israeli children killed in the conflict is in the hundreds, with the vast majority dying during the initial October 7 attack.
Related:
‘Pro-family’ groups say Israel is wrongly blamed for genocide in Gaza
Israel bears no responsibility for 50,000 dead Palestinians and those now starving, Huckabee says
‘This is no longer just about Palestine; it’s about our collective humanity’
100 international aid groups say Israel is blocking help for Gaza