UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel: new report documents Israel's deliberate targeting of Palestinian children
On 23 June 2026, a new report titled “The essence of childhood has been destroyed: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023” was published by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
The Commission had already concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip as well as war crimes in the West Bank. With this new report, the Commission denounces the fact that Israeli military operations have not only continued at an intense scale and in a systematic manner, but have also deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children, one of the recognizable elements of genocidal intent.
Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission, stated that “The protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination (...) By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel was established by the UN Human Rights Council on 27 May 2021, during a Human Rights Council special session on the grave human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem. The Council adopted Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-30/1 through which the Commission was established, with the aim to “investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021” and to “investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”
The 2026 report shows that use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian children, particularly during mass arrests and in detention, has continued even after the ceasefire established by the October 2025 Gaza peace plan. The Commission also describes the pattern of Israel targeting critical infrastructure critical to children’s wellbeing, such as healthcare facilities, orphanages and schools.
These destructive operations led by Israeli authorities will not be easily undone and reparations will not be difficult to implement. The conditions of Palestinian children’s life have been severely deteriorated. As Muralidhar put it “Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight (...) The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
The report further analyses how Israeli soldiers mock and weaponize symbols of childhood in Gaza, raising ethical, disciplinary and legal questions about the conduct of the Israeli security forces during the ongoing genocide and military occupation in Gaza.
In the report, the Commission calls the whole international community to uphold its international legal obligations and to call for an end to hostilities. It calls on Israel to immediately cease committing violations and crimes against and affecting Palestinian children, and to end its occupation in the Gaza strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in compliance with the advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 of the International Court of Justice. The Commission also calls on Israel to prioritize accountability and access to justice for victims, and stresses the need to hold accountable the Israeli security force units responsible for killing and injuring Palestinian children.