A UN fact-finding body set up to investigate potential war crimes in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has published a report that concluded Israeli forces deliberately targeted children in Gaza, resulting in genocide and crimes against humanity.
The report, published by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, found that from October 7, 2023, to October 7, 2025, Israeli forces killed at least 20,179 children and wounded 44,143 in Gaza.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, the chair of the commission, according to Middle East Eye.
The report said that Israeli forces have targeted children in two distinct ways: “Directly by shooting at their vital organs using precision weapons such as quadcopters and snipers; and through use of high impact weapons causing widespread and systematic attacks on residential buildings, schools, and displacement camps crowded with children.”
The report detailed other ways Israel has inflicted harm on children, including through starvation and attacks on hospitals that disrupted neonatal care. The commission said that it found that the “killing of and serious bodily and mental harm inflicted upon Palestinian children was part of a strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian group in Gaza.”
The report said that the commission concluded “Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have committed the crime
of genocide in Gaza by killing and causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, including Palestinian children.”
The commission also noted that the targeting of children has continued despite the so-called ceasefire deal that was signed in October 2025. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law,” Muralidhar said.
According to the latest numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry, since the deal was signed, the IDF has killed 1,027 and wounded 3,280 as it has committed constant ceasefire violations by launching daily attacks.
