UN Committee: Israel Deliberately Targets Children as Part of 'Genocide' in Gaza

SadaNews - A UN inquiry committee has accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian children, considering it a key factor in the ongoing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, as stated in a report released on Tuesday, which received criticism from the Israeli state.

Last year, the independent international commission of inquiry established by the United Nations concerning the occupied Palestinian territories, stated that Israel was committing "genocide" in the war that erupted on October 7, 2023.

The new report clarifies that the killing in the besieged and devastated sector continues despite a ceasefire agreement announced on October 10, 2025.

It stated that "Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in the commission of genocide and crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and war crimes in the West Bank," where levels of violence have escalated since the Gaza war.

It noted that "the deliberate targeting of children is one of the main elements that demonstrates the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, totally or partially, in Gaza."

The committee, which does not speak on behalf of the international body, concluded in September 2025 that Israel committed "genocide" in Gaza. The Israeli state rejected this conclusion.

Committee chair Sarinivasan Moraleedar stated: "The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been targeted and deliberately killed by Israeli security forces," adding: "Even after the ceasefire in October 2025, children continue to be killed and severely injured, while Israel continues to ignore the ceasefire and the protection guaranteed to Palestinian children under international law."

Israel, which has consistently criticized the committee's work, rejected the findings of the new report, deeming it "defamatory."

The United Nations Human Rights Council established the committee in 2021.

For its latest report, the committee looked into crimes affecting the lives of children now and for many years, in addition to their detention conditions by Israeli authorities.

It added: "Severe physical and psychological injuries, collective trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, and repeated displacement have obliterated childhood and caused starvation. The effects will haunt Gaza's children throughout their lives and have resulted in the collapse of education and healthcare."

It continued: "Palestinian children have been subjected to arrest, torture, and other severe forms of mistreatment in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, with no information about their whereabouts. Israeli security forces have used sexual and gender-based violence against children as part of the occupation to suppress collectively, rooted in a long-standing intergenerational pattern of Israeli humiliation and hostility."

It noted that "by targeting children, Israel undermines the foundational structure of Palestinian society and weakens its ability to uphold and exercise its right as a people to determine its future."

The report quoted the committee chair saying: "The protection of Palestinian children and their care and survival cannot be separated from the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and existence and to determine their future. By targeting children, Israel infringes upon the very capacity of the Palestinian people."

The release of the report came days after the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the announced ceasefire in Gaza is a "deadly illusion" for Palestinian children, noting that 265 have been killed since it took effect in October 2025.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elady noted that most of these children were killed "by Israeli forces." He explained: "Few of them were victims of unexploded munitions, and even fewer were victims of militias. But most were killed by Israeli forces in airstrikes or bombings or drone attacks."

The unprecedented Hamas attack on the southern part of the Israeli state resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to a count by the French Press Agency based on official Israeli data.

In contrast, more than 72,800 people have been killed due to the bombardment and military operations by Israel in the sector, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health.

According to the United Nations, at least 20,179 children have been killed and 44,143 others injured in the first two years of the war as a result of hostilities between the two sides of the conflict.

The committee also observed that "the dismantling and destruction of orphanages and educational facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem," has led to "impairing care and cognitive, emotional, and social development for children, destabilizing the foundations of Palestinian society."

It added: "Israel's targeting of newborn and maternity care centers in Gaza has directly harmed both the survival of newborns and the reproductive future of Palestinians, including through increased rates of spontaneous abortion, congenital defects, and permanent disability among newborns, resulting in the destruction of the lives of Palestinian newborns and the continuity of the population."

It also noted that "the starvation" resulting from the Israeli blockade of the sector and the scarcity of humanitarian materials allowed to enter contributed to "the death of Palestinian children and severely affected the health of many other children, depriving them of basic nutrition, and increased the risks of disease, amid decreased immunization, food insecurity, and the destruction of health services."

Moraleedar warned that "even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not recover overnight. The destruction of their health, education, and growth is irreversible."