June 23, 2026, 2:13 p.mJune 23, 2026, 2:13 p.m
Israel has targeted children in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, according to a new UN report. These attacks counted as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
This was stated by a United Nations investigative commission. Israel has vehemently rejected the report’s allegations.
According to the commission’s report, since the terrorist massacre by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel in October 2023 until the ceasefire in October 2025, at least 20,179 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip as a direct result of the military conflict, including at least 5,031 children up to the age of four. It was said that more than 44,000 children were injured. The UN definition includes all children and young people up to the age of 18 as children.
UN: Sexual violence against children – Israel rejects allegations
Even after the ceasefire, children continued to be killed and seriously injured. The targeted killing of children is one of the key elements “that demonstrates the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip,” according to the report by the expert commission, which works on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council.
Palestinian children have been arrested and tortured and severely ill-treated in Israeli prisons, according to the UN. On top of that, Israeli security forces used sexual violence against children as part of collective shaming and oppression.
Israel called the report deeply flawed and one-sided. The document is full of distortions whose sole purpose is to advance a politically motivated anti-Israel narrative. Tens of thousands of Israeli children had to be relocated, at least temporarily, as a result of Hamas’ terrorist attack, it was said.
Destroyed childhood irreversible according to the UN
“Even if the bombs and weapons stop in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not recover overnight,” said commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar. “The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
Israel has been taking action against the terrorist militia since the bloody Hamas attack in October 2023. According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 72,000 people had been killed in the conflict in the Gaza Strip by mid-April. (sda/dpa)