UN inquiry concludes Israel committing genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children

An independent UN commission of inquiry has concluded that Israel is committing genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, according to a report released on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. The commission found that approximately 30% of those killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been children, and that Palestinian children continue to be killed even after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. The three-member expert panel, chaired by Indian jurist Srinivasan Muralidhar, stated that the evidence demonstrates Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces, including through precision weapons such as quadcopter drones and snipers targeting vital organs, and high-impact munitions in strikes on residential buildings, schools and displacement camps.

The commission determined that deliberately targeting children constitutes a key element in establishing genocidal intent by Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part. The report found that Israeli forces continued to use high-payload munitions and weapons with widespread effects in densely populated residential areas despite mounting child casualties, indicating such attacks were intentional. The commission concluded the killings form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of Palestinians in Gaza. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN, at least 21,280 children have been killed since the military campaign began in October 2023, with over 1,020 Palestinians, including 265 children, killed since the October 2025 ceasefire.

This represents the second major finding of genocide by the same commission. A previous report in September 2025 concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts. Netanyahu is separately wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The commission also documented findings in the occupied West Bank, including a sharp increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian children, evidence of torture including sexual and gender-based violence during mass arrests and detention, and systemic mistreatment of Palestinian children in detention.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the commission's findings, calling the report a "libellous sham" and "propaganda piece." Israel maintains it does not target civilians and launched its military campaign in response to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage. The commission noted that conditions imposed on Gaza, including widespread attacks, repeated displacement, and restrictions on aid, food and medicine, severely harmed children's health and development. Israel has accused Hamas of systematically diverting humanitarian aid and fuel for hospitals, accusations Hamas has rejected.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, does not officially speak for the UN but represents an independent investigation into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The commission has also previously concluded that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes on 7 October 2023. A significant body of research by legal and rights experts, including analyses by UN investigators, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and genocide scholars worldwide, has reached similar conclusions regarding Israel's intent regarding Palestinians. Genocide, which became an international crime following World War II and the Holocaust, is defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.