U.N. inquiry says Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza

A U.N. inquiry said Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, a finding that adds to pressure for accountability even though it is not a criminal court ruling. The panel said the killings amounted to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and estimated that children made up about 30% of those killed in the Gaza war.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said at least 20,179 children were killed between October 7, 2023 and October 7, 2025. It said child deaths continued after a ceasefire took effect in October 2025. In assessing the pattern, the commission said the use of high-payload munitions and weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated neighborhoods pointed to intentional attacks rather than accidental civilian harm.

Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission chair, said the evidence showed Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces. The body said its conclusions were based on remote interviews, open-source material, satellite imagery and forensic medical evidence, and it tied the latest findings to a wider record of alleged abuses across the conflict. In its 2026 reporting, the commission said it identified 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence in Gaza in 2024 and 2025, with at least 108 deaths and 384 injuries.

Israel rejected the findings forcefully. Its mission in Geneva called the report a defamatory advocacy document and said Israel consistently strives to minimize harm to children, while accusing the commission of ignoring Hamas tactics. The dispute is now as much about legitimacy as law: the commission can shape diplomatic pressure, future sanctions debates and calls for international prosecution, but it cannot itself bring charges. Any real legal consequences would depend on states, international bodies or courts choosing to act on the report.

The commission’s mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council has covered alleged violations in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel since April 13, 2021, giving its work a wider frame than the current war alone. It had already concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, a finding Israel also rejected, and a June 2024 report said both Israeli authorities and Palestinian armed groups were responsible for war crimes since October 7, 2023. The latest findings now place the war’s child toll at the center of a broader fight over evidence, accountability and the diplomatic cost of the conflict.