JAKARTA - Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Gaza, as well as war crimes in the occupied West Bank, according to a UN independent investigation on Tuesday.
The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examines violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Around 30 percent of those killed in the Gaza war were children, according to the report, Al Arabiya reported from Reuters (23/6).
An earlier report by the commission in September found Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, with senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inciting these actions - a charge Israel has called a scandal.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Mission in Geneva said Israel rejected what it called the second "defamatory advocacy report" from the Commission.
"Israel rejects this false slander," the statement said, adding that "every child has the right to protection" and stressing that the report ignored "Hamas' brutal tactics."
The UN commission said Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire was imposed in October 2025.
He said, this is a key element that proves the intention of genocide by the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.
"The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces," said Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission's chairman, in a statement accompanying the report.
The report found that the proportion of children killed was higher than in previous conflicts. Between October 7, 2023 and October 7, 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed, about 30 percent of the total death toll.
For comparison, in hostilities in Gaza in 2008-2009 and 2014, children accounted for about 24 percent of conflict-related fatalities, the report said.
"Israeli forces continue to use high-explosive ammunition and weapons with a wide area effect in densely populated residential areas despite the continued increase in child casualties," the commission said.
"This shows that these attacks, which kill children in very high numbers, are deliberate," he said.
They said they believed children were collectively targeted because Israeli security forces considered the civilian population as a whole to be linked to Hamas and other armed groups.
A rebuttal shared by the Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel "constantly strives to minimize harm to children even in situations of conflict" and Israel rejected the notion that it deliberately targets children "categorically."
Muralidhar said by targeting children, Israel was undermining the ability of the Palestinian people to exist and determine their future.
The report states that the conditions imposed by Israel in Gaza, including widespread attacks, repeated displacement, and starvation caused by a blockade of aid, food, and medicine, are extremely damaging to children's health and development, resulting in actual preventable deaths and trauma.
The investigation also found that attacks on health and reproductive care facilities impacted the survival of newborns and reported an increase in miscarriages, while almost all children in Gaza were reported to need psychological support.
Israel's response said the report failed to mention Israel's role in facilitating vaccinations and the entry of medical staff, as well as the establishment of field hospitals. Israel itself accused Hamas of systematically diverting humanitarian aid and fuel for hospitals. Hamas has denied the allegations.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
