UN Committee Says Israel Deliberately Targeted Palestinian Children in Gaza, Calling It Genocide

A United Nations–mandated investigative committee announced that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, describing the conduct as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and saying killings continued even after the Gaza ceasefire in October last year.

The BBC reported that the Israeli Foreign Ministry responded that it “strongly rejects” the committee’s report, describing it as a “defamatory fabrication” and “odious propaganda, as before.”

Al Jazeera

The BBC said the committee chair, Srinivasan Muralidar, argued that “Even after the ceasefire agreement in October 2025, children are being killed and seriously injured,” while Israel continued to ignore the ceasefire and protections guaranteed by international law for Palestinian children.

CNN said the commission found that Israeli military operations have continued causing “unprecedented death, injury and trauma” to Palestinian children, including after a ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

The BBC also put the scale of the war’s toll in context, saying the death toll in Israeli attacks on Gaza has reached at least 73,035 Palestinians, including more than 21,280 children, according to the Health Ministry in the territory, which the United Nations regards as a reliable reference.

Israel’s rejection of the UN findings was echoed across outlets, with CNN quoting the Foreign Ministry calling the report “a propaganda piece as outrageous as its previous ones,” and quoting Danny Danon calling it a “political blood libel disguised as a UN document.”

In the West Asian coverage, Al Jazeera reported that Hamas welcomed the report, with Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem telling Anadolu Agency that the report “is very important and part of establishing the facts” regarding Israeli crimes.

Al Jazeera

The BBC said the committee described “the sustained intensification and systematic nature” of Israeli military operations in Gaza, and it quoted Muralidar saying Israel continues to ignore the ceasefire and protections guaranteed by international law for Palestinian children.

CNN described the commission’s focus on conditions imposed on Gaza since the ceasefire, including “widespread attacks and the blocking of humanitarian and medical aid,” and it said the report described “multi-layered harm to Palestinian children’s survival, health and development.”

DW reported that the UN committee said killings in the Gaza Strip continue despite the ceasefire announced on October 10, 2025, and it quoted the committee’s framing that “deliberate targeting of children is one of the main elements proving the Israeli authorities’ and security forces’ intent” to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza.

The UN commission’s report did not limit itself to battlefield claims, and it said it documented attacks that it described as undermining children’s access to health care, including neonatal and pediatric hospitals in Gaza, and it accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war through restrictions on humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The BBC said the committee warned that restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza “have led to severe and chronic malnutrition among Gaza's children,” and it said the committee also described attacks on schools, mass displacement, and forced closures as “systematically hindered children's ability to learn.”

DW said the report’s release came days after UNICEF warned that the declared Gaza ceasefire is a “deadly illusion” for Palestinian children, noting that 265 of them have been killed since it began its implementation in October 2025.

In its call for accountability, CNN said the commission urged member states to arrest Israeli officials wanted by the International Criminal Court, halt arms transfers to Israel, and impose sanctions on Israeli officials and settlers.

The UN News summary said the committee urged Israel to “immediately halt military operations in Gaza,” and it warned that “Even if bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian children will not recover overnight,” framing the destruction of health, education, and development as “irreversible.”