A independent U.N. commission said Tuesday that the Israeli military had deliberately targeted children in Gaza, amounting to genocide, and in the West Bank, amounting to war crimes.
The commission of inquiry, which called on international bodies to hold Israeli officials to account, is composed of three senior international jurists and chaired by the former Indian judge Srinivasan Muralidhar. In earlier conclusions released in September, it said the Israeli military campaign in Gaza met the legal definition of genocide — a finding echoed by a growing group of genocide experts, including some Israeli scholars and human rights organizations.
After reviewing Israeli actions affecting Palestinian children in particular, the commission said it found a pattern of behavior — including the deliberate shooting of children by soldiers; the destruction of hospitals, maternity care centers and schools in Gaza; and the indiscriminate use of explosive munitions — that reflected a strategy to destroy the future of Palestinians and reaffirmed the commission’s earlier conclusion that Israel harbored genocidal intent. Israeli forces continued to target children in Gaza after a ceasefire was reached with Hamas in October, Muralidhar said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the report as a “propaganda piece as outrageous as its previous ones,” a “libelous sham” and a document that “lacks any credible verification mechanism for its claims.”
“Using the demagoguery of modern blood libels to defame Israel,” the report “actively conceals clear evidence of terrorist atrocities,” the Israeli ministry said, adding that the commission overlooked crimes committed against Israeli children.
The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the report, pointing to the statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Since 2023, Israel has strenuously denied committing genocide, arguing that it has taken steps during its Gaza campaign to limit civilian casualties.
To compile its report, the commission interviewed victims, families, health care workers and lawyers, and reviewed medical records. In interviews, 17 medical workers who were deployed in Gaza told the commission that they saw a pattern of children with single gunshot wounds, “suggesting that the shot was carefully aimed rather than incidental or the result of indiscriminate fire.” In one instance in Gaza’s Jabalya, the commission noted, Israel soldiers shot a 16-year-old boy and then ran over his body with a tank, mutilating it. In another case in Khan Younis, an analysis by the commission found that a 15-year-old boy holding a white flag — and his brother who came to his rescue, as well as their mother — were shot by .338-caliber Israeli sniper rounds from 200 meters away, a relatively short distance.
When Israel broke a two-month ceasefire on March 18, 2025, with a flurry of bombardment, the majority of those 404 people killed that day were women and children, the report said.
In the West Bank, the commission documented a pattern of Israeli troops targeting boys and the mistreatment of children during arrest and detention, amounting to war crimes. Israel also failed to protect Palestinian children from attacks by settlers, the commission said.
At a news conference in Geneva, Christopher Sidoti, a member of the U.N. commission and former Australian human rights commissioner, spoke at length about the story of Jad Jadallah, a 14-year-old boy who was shot by Israeli soldiers in February outside his home in the Jordan Valley. During the 45-minute period in which he bled to death, Sidoti said, the soldiers stood by without offering medical aid, rebuffed his gestures seeking help and placed a stone next to his body in an apparent attempt to frame him as armed. They fired warning shots at his mother when she tried to come to his aid.
At the time, the IDF said that its soldiers did in fact try to give Jadallah “initial medical treatment” and that it would investigate the incident.
“What kind of people are your soldiers, who would allow a 14-year-old child to bleed to death over a 45-minute period?” Sidoti asked. “What kind of people are your military leaders that would inculcate a culture that soldiers feel free to do this? What kind of people are your leaders when they give orders, they give statements, that encourage this kind of conduct?”
Sidoti added: “Anyone who has served in the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza since October 2023 must be considered a suspect for the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide. We must move beyond expressing deep concern and strong condemnation. The answer to what more can be done is targeting institutions.”
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