United Nations: More than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces in “deliberate, targeted” attacks since October 2023, according to a UN commission of inquiry chaired by Srinivasan Muralidhar.
Muralidhar, the former Orissa High Court Chief Justice, said in a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday that they found “indisputable evidence” concerning the “deliberate, targeted killing of Palestinian children, including since the October 2025 ceasefire”.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in its 100-page report that between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed and 44,143 children were injured as a result of the hostilities in Gaza, constituting 30 per cent of those killed and 26 per cent of those injured during this period.
The commission examined violations and crimes against Palestinian children, including serious physical and psychological harm by the Israeli security forces since October 7 2023, when Hamas had attacked Israel.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage.
“The commission found indisputable evidence with regard to the deliberate, targeted killing of Palestinian children, including since the October 2025 ceasefire, the use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including use of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian children, as well as targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children, such as orphanages, health care, and educational facilities,” Muralidhar said.
He added that there has been “widespread and systematic” killing and harming of children between October 7, 2023 and October 2025.
The commission also examined a sharp increase in violence perpetrated by members of Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
It said that until October 7, 2023, roughly half of the population of the Gaza Strip was under the age of 18. “These children had already lived their entire lives under the Israeli blockade and occupation, experiencing multiple rounds of hostilities and trauma.”
The commission “notes the increase in the proportion of children killed in comparison to previous escalations of hostilities wherein children made up approximately 24 per cent of the conflict-related fatalities in the escalations of hostilities of 2008-2009 and 2014”.
The report said that children killed in Gaza represent around two per cent of Gaza’s 1.2 million child population by October 2025. At least 5,031 children under five years were killed during this period, of whom 1,029 children were under the age of one, and some 420 were newborns.
The commission notes that the number of children killed and injured from the hostilities in Gaza is “certainly higher” than the one reported. Some 5,160 children are estimated by Save the Children to be buried under the rubble, it said.
Muralidhar said that the commission’s findings are that “Israel targets children to weaken demographic vitality and deny the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination”.
He said that based on all the evidence gathered, the report concludes that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have “deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood”.
“Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces are responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
Muralidhar said that the protection, care and survival of Palestinian children and pregnant women are “inextricably linked” to the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to self-determination.
“By targeting children, Israel is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society, weakening the demographic vitality and overall capacity of the Palestinian people to sustain and exercise its right to determine its future as a people,” he said.
“Our report concludes that the settler violence in the West Bank functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policies, with both the state and violent settler groups working in collaboration towards the same strategic objective: unlawful territorial expansion,” he said.
The report calls on Israel to immediately halt military operations in Gaza and ensure accountability for all those with responsibility for crimes against and affecting Palestinian children, both individual perpetrators and those in positions of political or military command responsibility.
It urges the UN Security Council to prohibit all two-way military-related trade with Israel and impose “immediate, comprehensive sanctions”, including travel bans, asset freezes and financial restrictions, on Israeli officials in positions of command responsibility, the leadership of the Israeli security forces and those in military command positions, and soldiers serving in Gaza on or since October 2023 who have or may have committed international crimes.(PTI)
