The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry has raised serious allegations about the treatment of Palestinian children during the Gaza conflict.

According to the report, the commission found that Palestinian children had been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces since October 2023.

The commission said the conduct it documented may amount to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes under international law.

The findings were presented to the UN Human Rights Council.

The commission also reported that children accounted for about 30% of those killed by Israeli forces during the period under review.

Explosives in civilian areas

The commission said the repeated use of high-payload explosives in densely populated civilian areas formed part of a pattern that could not simply be dismissed as accidental harm.

The report also documented the wider destruction of childhood in Gaza.

It pointed to deaths, injuries, displacement, starvation, psychological trauma, the destruction of schools and attacks on healthcare infrastructure.

According to the findings, these conditions have left many Palestinian children facing long-term physical and mental harm.

The report’s title states that “the essence of childhood has been destroyed”.

Media response criticised

Critics argue that the commission’s findings have not received the level of public and media attention usually associated with allegations of mass atrocities.

It said much of the coverage has focused on disputes between Israel and the United Nations, rather than the evidence presented by the commission.

It criticised what it described as a familiar pattern in which allegations of serious international crimes are shifted into debates about process, bias or institutional credibility.

It argued that this risks moving attention away from the deaths of children and the wider impact on Palestinian civilians.

Findings now on record

The commission’s findings are now part of the public record.

The report said civil society and human rights activists must ensure the allegations are not reduced to footnotes.

It said the central claims, especially that Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and that the conduct could amount to the gravest crimes under international law, should remain in public focus.

The findings add pressure on governments, international bodies and media institutions to confront the scale of harm documented against Palestinian children.