Gaza Herald _Nearly three years into Israel’s War on Gaza, Palestinian children continue to bear the highest cost of the violence. A recent report by a United Nations commission concludes that Israeli forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, presenting evidence that it says demonstrates an intent to destroy Palestinians, in whole or in part.
The commission documents the deaths of more than 20,000 Palestinian children and injuries to another 44,000 since October 2023. It argues that the scale of the devastation reflects not only Israel’s actions but also the international community’s failure to uphold its legal obligations to prevent genocide and enforce the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in early 2024.
The report is rooted in international children’s rights law, which emerged after World War I to ensure that children receive special protection during both peace and armed conflict. According to the commission, Palestinian children have been denied those protections for decades, with the current war representing the most devastating chapter yet.
Because children make up roughly half of Gaza’s population, the report places particular emphasis on their vulnerability. It concludes that Israeli military operations have severely damaged the biological and social continuity of Palestinian society by inflicting widespread death, injury, displacement, psychological trauma, starvation, orphanhood, and permanent disabilities on children.
The findings also describe the detention and abuse of Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons, including allegations of torture and sexual violence. The commission says these actions violate international human rights law and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Beyond Gaza, the report highlights a rise in violence against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, carried out by both Israeli forces and settlers. Drawing on witness testimony and open-source evidence, investigators documented attacks affecting infants, toddlers, and older children. To protect surviving family members, the commission chose not to identify the children by name.
The report further concludes that Israel’s military operations have devastated Gaza’s education and healthcare systems. Schools, hospitals, maternity wards, and neonatal units have all suffered extensive damage. With more than 90 percent of Gaza’s educational facilities damaged or destroyed, many children have gone years without access to formal education. In the occupied West Bank, military raids and harassment on the way to school have become increasingly common.
The commission’s findings build on years of documentation by Palestinian and international human rights organizations, including Defence for Children International–Palestine, Al-Haq, UNICEF, and UNRWA, all of which have repeatedly warned about violations of Palestinian children’s rights and called for international intervention.
The report also references earlier findings by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, both of which documented longstanding patterns of killings, injuries, arrests, displacement, and trauma affecting Palestinian children.
It further notes that many doctors returning from Gaza have reported treating children with injuries they believe were caused by sniper fire and armed drones. Palestinian children have also publicly described their experiences of surviving repeated attacks, displacement, hunger, and fear, calling on the international community to protect them and hold those responsible accountable.
The commission also raises concerns over Israeli measures targeting Palestinian human rights organizations that document abuses against children. Among those affected is Defence for Children International–Palestine, whose offices were repeatedly raided before the organization suspended its operations after years of legal advocacy and documentation.
According to the report, the closure of organizations monitoring violations against Palestinian children has weakened accountability at a time when independent documentation is most needed.
The commission concludes that continued international inaction has allowed violations against Palestinian children to persist. It urges governments to implement its recommendations, including ending arms transfers to Israel, imposing sanctions, and supporting international legal efforts to prosecute those responsible for crimes committed during the war.
This version is substantially rewritten while preserving the key facts and the perspective expressed in the original article.
