A United Nations-mandated commission released a report on Tuesday stating that it had found ‘indisputable evidence’ to show that Israeli government and security forces have been intentionally targeting and killing Palestinian children in Gaza.
According to the commission, at least 20,179 Palestinian children were killed and 44,143 injured in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025. Children accounted for roughly 30 per cent of those killed during this period, the report said.
The commission said children had been killed in homes, shelters, schools, hospitals and even areas like orphanages where displaced families had taken refuge.
It also examined cases in which children were allegedly killed by precision sniper fire and drones with a single shot suggesting that in a lot of cases children were actively targeted and persecuted by the Israeli forces.
Doctors interviewed by the commission said autopsies in several cases indicated a high degree of precision, suggesting that the shots were aimed at children using targeting equipment and were not the result of indiscriminate or incidental fire as has been held by the Israeli government.
The report also noted that children continued to be killed even after the October 2025 ceasefire, including in areas close to the “yellow line” marking zones under Israeli military control.
The commission, which operates under the UN Human Rights Council, said Israeli forces were responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Israel has strongly denied the allegations made and said it does not deliberately target civilians or children.
‘Childhood has been destroyed’
Justice S. Muralidhar, chairperson of the investigation commission appointed by the UN, said the inquiry had found “indisputable evidence” of not only targeted killing but torture of Palestinian children.
“The Commission found indisputable evidence with regards to the deliberate, targeted killing of Palestinian children, including since the October 2025 ceasefire, the use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including use of sexual and gender-biassed violence against Palestinian children, as well as targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children such as orphanages, healthcare and educational facilities,” Muralidhar said.
He said there had been “a widespread and systematic killing and harming of children”, adding that more than 20,000 children had been killed and more than 44,000 injured between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025.
Muralidhar also said the commission recorded 151 child deaths due to malnutrition as of October 1, 2025, and more than 1,000 instances of children undergoing amputation of one or more limbs between October and December 2023.
“Based on all the evidence gathered, the report makes legal findings and concludes that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood,” he added.
Israel rejects report, calls it ‘libelous sham’
Israel rejected the commission’s findings, calling the report a “libelous sham”. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the allegations were not verified and accused the commission of operating as a “fundamentally flawed mechanism” aimed at singling out and vilifying Israel.
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide and says it takes precautions to reduce civilian casualties and protect children. It has also accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and of operating from civilian areas, including schools and hospitals.
Israel’s mission in Geneva said the report ignored what it called the “brutal tactics of Hamas” and rejected “in the strongest terms” the allegation that Israeli forces deliberately target children.
Inside the commission’s investigation
The commission’s latest report builds on its September 2025 finding that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a conclusion Israel had rejected at the time.
The new report focuses specifically on the impact of the war on Palestinian children.
It examines deaths, injuries, malnutrition, amputations, detention, alleged torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and the destruction of infrastructure essential to children, including hospitals, schools, orphanages and healthcare facilities.
Some of the information mentioned in the UN report was obtained from Gaza’s health ministry that was a part of the Hamas-led government and is staffed by medical professionals.
As per Associated Press, the ministry maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory was deployed by the United Nations in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international human rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel.
The current panel which launched the most recent report on Israel’s ‘war crimes’ was appointed in 2025. The commission is headed by Indian jurist Srinivasan Muralidhar as Chairperson, with Florence Mumba of Zambia and Chris Sidoti of Australia as members.
Indian jurist at the centre of UN probe
Justice S. Muralidhar is an Indian jurist who practised before the Supreme Court of India for nearly two decades. During this period, he served as counsel for the National Human Rights Commission of India and appeared as amicus curiae in several public interest cases.
He was awarded a PhD by the University of Delhi in 2002 and served as a part-time member of the Law Commission of India from 2002 to 2006.
In May 2006, he was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court. In January 2021, he became Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court and retired in August 2023.
His tenure in Orissa was marked by administrative reforms, including digitisation of court records and the establishment of the Judicial Archives and Museum of Justice in Cuttack.
In October 2023, he was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India and returned to legal practice. He is the author of Law, Poverty and Legal Aid: Access to Criminal Justice and editor of [In]Complete Justice: 75 Years of the Supreme Court.