Dubai – Al Bayan; Geneva; Gaza – Agencies
As international pressure on Israel over the Gaza war continues to mount, an independent United Nations inquiry commission has opened a new front of legal and political controversy, accusing Israeli forces of deliberately targeting Palestinian children.
The commission described this as one of the principal indicators of what it termed "genocidal intent". The report comes as field developments suggest Israel is pressing ahead with expanding its operational control inside the Strip and preparing for a post-war phase.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025.
It noted that more than 20,000 children were killed during the first two years of the war, and that children accounted for approximately 30% of total casualties. The report also accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, warning of long-term consequences for Palestinian health, education, and social fabric.
Commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidharan said: "The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces." He added: "Even after the ceasefire of October 2025, children continue to be killed and seriously wounded, as Israel persists in disregarding the ceasefire and the protections afforded to Palestinian children under international law."
The report quoted the commission chairman as saying: "The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children cannot be separated from the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, to exist, and to determine their own future. By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people itself."
In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the commission observed a significant increase in violence committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinian children, and documented evidence of torture, including sexual and gender-based violence, during mass arrest and detention operations.
Israel rejected the report, describing it as "false defamation" and "biased", contending that it ignored Hamas's attacks of 7 October 2023.
The report comes days after the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that the ceasefire had become a "lethal illusion" for children, with the organisation announcing that 265 children had been killed since the agreement entered into force last October.
On the ground, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that 4 Palestinians were killed and 20 others wounded in the past 24 hours in Israeli strikes, bringing the death toll since the ceasefire began to more than 1,000 people.
Meanwhile, Israeli security assessments revealed that the army exercises operational control over approximately 70% of the Gaza Strip's area, with expectations that this control will be expanded in the coming months. Israeli reports also spoke of preparations for possible scenarios involving a resumption of fighting, alongside security and administrative projects in the Rafah area as part of "day after" plans.
The simultaneity of the legal and field tracks reflects a complex situation in which mounting international pressure intersects with Israel's attempts to entrench a new reality on the ground, at a time when the future of Gaza and its security and administrative arrangements remains suspended amid multiple possibilities.