Israeli authorities and security forces “deliberately targeted” attacking Palestinian children, which resulted in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The conclusion was published this Tuesday (June 23, 2026) by an independent UN commission of inquiry. The Israeli government rejected the claims and classified the document as defamatory.
The UN Independent International Commission of Investigation, created with a mandate from the Human Rights Council, claims to have found “reasonable reasons” to conclude that Israeli security forces “they continued to commit the crime of genocide” in Gaza.
Commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar said the pattern of attacks on children represents a key factor in establishing genocidal intent. According to him, by targeting this group, Israel compromises the survival of the Palestinian people as a collective. Here’s the document. (PDF-1MB)
Genocide and Israel’s response
Investigators say they have found evidence that Israeli security forces “deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children”. The commission maintains that this conduct demonstrates the “genocidal intention on the part of Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the largest Palestinian group in Gaza”.
The report also points out “selective attacks against neonatology and maternity services” by Israel, with consequences that include an increase in spontaneous abortions and genital malformations. Researchers describe these effects as being long-lasting on “the continuity of the population”.
The commission also holds Israel responsible for the deaths of children as a result of the famine caused by the blockade of the Gaza Strip. The dismantling of protection and education structures in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the group, has weakened “the foundations of Palestinian society”.
Israel rejected the findings. The Israeli government described the report as “defamatory” and said that the commission is silent “about the brutal tactics of Hamas, which mercilessly attacks Israeli children and uses Palestinian children as human shields”.
Context of the war and ceasefire
The latest report builds on previous findings from the same commission. In September 2025, the body stated that Israeli forces had committed “four of the five genocidal acts” provided for in the 1948 Genocide Convention. The acts identified were: killing members of the group; cause serious harm to physical or mental integrity; intentionally subjecting the group to conditions designed to physically destroy it; and adopt measures to prevent births within the group.
The commission warned that the harm to Palestinian children will persist even after the ceasefire signed in October 2025. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, they continue to kill and seriously injure children; Israel continues to ignore the ceasefire and the protection that international law obliges it to grant to Palestinian children.”declared the group of researchers.
The researchers highlighted that the consequences for Palestinian childhoods tend to be permanent. “Even if the bombs and guns remain silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not rise from one day to the next, as the destruction of their health, their education and their development is irreversible”the commission concluded.
Israel and Hamas exchange accusations of violations of the truce signed in October 2025. The war in the territory was triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
