A UN inquiry has issued a report asserting that Israel intentionally attacked Palestinian children, amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Gaza, along with war crimes in the West Bank. The commission found Israeli authorities deliberately caused death and severe physical and mental harm to hundreds of thousands of children, continuing even after a ceasefire.
The panel concluded these acts are part of a strategy to eliminate the future of Palestinians by targeting their young. Israel's foreign ministry dismissed the findings as a libelous sham.
The report details the use of precision weapons against children's vital organs and high-impact explosives on homes, schools, and displacement camps. It also points to killings in the West Bank by soldiers and settlers, and documents torture, ill-treatment, and sexual violence against detained minors.
Healthcare for children has been systematically dismantled through attacks on hospitals, while aid restrictions have led to acute malnutrition, effectively using starvation as a method of war. The destruction of schools and forced displacement are described as sabotaging the social and intellectual foundations of Palestinian society.
The commission previously accused Israel of genocide and Hamas of war crimes. The current report notes that even after a ceasefire, children continue to be killed.
A separate genocide case is pending at the International Court of Justice, which Israel rejects as unfounded.
