The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry announced that it determined Israel deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children in Gaza, and that this constitutes genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said, "The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces."
Children make up 30 percent of the war
According to the commission's report published on Tuesday, children constitute approximately 30 percent of the people killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
The report stated that Israel's targeting of neonatal and maternity care centers in Gaza directly endangered the reproductive future of Palestinians and the survival of newborns, leading to an increase in miscarriages, birth defects, and permanent vulnerabilities.
Horrific conditions for children
The commission determined that the aid blockade Israel imposed on Gaza last year also had a severe impact on Palestinian children, causing starvation-related deaths and an increase in diseases due to declining vaccination rates.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured by Israeli forces since the start of Israel's war on Gaza.
The agency noted that since the so-called "ceasefire" came into effect last October, on average one Palestinian child has been killed every day in Gaza.
Orphanages destroyed in the West Bank
The UN report stated that Israeli forces destroyed orphanages and educational facilities in the occupied West Bank as well as Gaza, affecting the cognitive, social, and emotional care and development of Palestinian children.
The commission said it identified Israeli military units responsible for attacking children and called on Israel to stop its violence against Palestinian children.
Children arrested and tortured
According to the report, in addition to being killed or injured, Palestinian children were arrested and subjected to torture in Israeli prisons, as well as other forms of severe ill-treatment including sexual abuse.
Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), a Palestinian rights organization, said in a statement in March that more than half of the Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons at the end of last year were detained without charge or trial.
Commission Chair Muralidhar said, "Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not heal overnight."
Muralidhar added, "The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children is inseparable from the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
Israel's mission in Geneva rejected the document, which it called the commission's "second smear advocacy report." Israel stated in a declaration that "every child deserves protection" but that the report "ignores Hamas's ruthless tactics."
