An independent commission of inquiry mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council has concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, acts it says constitute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In a report released on Tuesday, the three-member panel states it has “reasonable grounds” to find that the killing and severe harming of children was part of “a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children.” The commission, which does not speak for the UN as a whole, documented at least 20,179 child fatalities between October 2023 and October 2025, representing roughly 30 percent of the overall death toll — a proportion it notes is higher than in previous Gaza conflicts.

Israeli officials immediately rejected the findings. The Israeli mission in Geneva called the report a “libellous sham” and “defamatory advocacy report,” asserting that Israel “consistently strives to minimise harm to children” and rejects any suggestion of intentional targeting “in the strongest terms.” Israeli representatives argued the commission ignored what they described as Hamas’s brutal tactics, including the use of Palestinian children as human shields and attacks on Israeli children. They also pointed to Israeli efforts to facilitate vaccinations, the entry of medical personnel and the establishment of field hospitals, which they said the report failed to mention.

The commission’s findings rest on what it describes as a pattern of conduct: the use of high-payload munitions and wide-area weapons in densely populated residential areas, direct shooting at children’s vital organs with precision weapons such as quadcopter drones and snipers, and attacks on neonatal and maternity services. It links these actions to a broader genocidal intent, citing also the starvation caused by Israel’s blockade, the collapse of healthcare and education, and mass displacement. The report warns that even if hostilities ceased, the destruction of children’s health, education and development is “irreversible,” with long-term demographic consequences. In the occupied West Bank, the commission documented a sharp increase in settler violence against children and evidence of torture, including sexual violence, during mass arrests and detention.

The report builds on a previous commission finding from September 2025 that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza — an accusation that Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have called scandalous. The commission was established in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. Its latest document, presented during the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, calls on Israel to cease violations and on the international community to ensure accountability. The dossier is expected to be debated further in Geneva and may inform ongoing proceedings before international courts, though the commission itself has no enforcement powers.