# The essence of childhood has been destroyed

**Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied**

**Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023**

**Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the**

**Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,**

**and Israel**

**Human Rights Council**

**Sixty-second session**

**Distr**.: General

**18 June 2026**

**Artwork:** ***Jana Ayad***<span>, a malnourished Palestinian girl, rests on a bed as she receives treatment at the International Medical Corps field hospital in </span>**Deir al-Balah** <span>in the southern </span>**Gaza Strip, 22 June 2024 (*****Reuters/Mohammed Salem*****)**

# Summary & File

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span>**Independent International Commission of Inquiry** <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examines </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">violations and crimes against and affecting Palestinian children</span>, including s<span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">erious physical and psychological harm by the Israeli security forces</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> since 7 October 2023 </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">resulting in the death of at least 20,179 and injury of 44,143 children</span>.

> The Commission examines the use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian children, particularly during mass arrests and in detention. It analyses pattern of Israel’s targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children, such as healthcare facilities and its short- to long-term consequences, as well as the impact of reproductive violence on newborns, resulting in poor neonatal health and birthing outcomes; attacks on orphanages and schools, impacting the loss of care for orphans and unaccompanied children, and inducing academic harm and learning disruptions for children, respectively.

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1. pattern of Israel’s targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children
2. healthcare facilities
3. reproductive violence on newborns
4. poor neonatal health and birthing outcomes
5. attacks on orphanages
6. attacks on schools
7. loss of care for orphans and unaccompanied children
8. academic harm and learning disruptions

> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Further, the Commission examines how </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">Israeli soldiers mock</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">weaponize symbols of childhood in Gaza</span>, raising ethical, disciplinary and legal questions about the conduct of the Israeli security forces during the ground invasion of Gaza.

<p class="callout info"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Notice: Press on the top left Menu button named Info, the actual report attached at the bottom of the left hand side column. </span></p>

# III Applicable legal framework

##### **13.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

**The Commission affirms that children are rights holders whose rights are enshrined in human rights instruments**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">Children are entitled to all the rights of human beings</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, as well as </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">rights held by them alone as children</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, including under </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, which entitles them to </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">special care, assistance and social protection, and under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span>**This heightened protection applies to all Palestinian children**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> under the occupation of Israel, as an occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. This special status of children is </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">stipulated under international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and customary international law</span>, which together recognise that persons under 18 have distinct needs and vulnerabilities that require additional safeguards in situations of armed conflict, occupation and law enforcement.

##### **18.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As an occupying power, Israel has extensive duties towards the protected civilian population, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">especially children</span>: it must, t<span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">o the fullest extent of the means available</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, ensure the provision of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">adequate food and medical supplies</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, maintain </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">medical and hospital services</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">facilitate the work of relief organisations</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to meet children’s needs. </span>

<p class="callout danger">**18.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is prohibited from imposing collective penalties or other measures that result in widespread deprivation among children.</span></p>

##### **19.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Internment or administrative detention of protected civilians should be an exceptional measure of last resort, permissible only when the security of the detaining power makes it “absolutely necessary”. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">This standard is even more restrictive when applied to children</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. In light of their dependency and developmental needs, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">the internment of children must be considered a highly exceptional measure</span>, justified only by<span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250); white-space: pre-wrap;"> demonstrable, individualised, imperative security reasons</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and never used as a tool of general deterrence, population control, retaliation or collective punishment. General security assertions, broad categories of suspected behaviour or assumptions based on association, family ties or place of residence cannot satisfy the strict necessity test for the internment of a child, and any doubt must be resolved in favour of non-detention of a child, in line with their best interest and do no harm.</span>

##### **21.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

Under international humanitarian law, t<span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">he dead, including children, must be respected and their remains treated with dignity</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Parties to the conflict </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184); white-space: pre-wrap;">must facilitate recovery, identification and, wherever possible, return their remains to families </span>to enable burial in accordance with religious and cultural traditions and to permit relatives to mourn.

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# IV. Physical harm against Palestinian children by Israel

> “You will die, your children will die, your grandchildren will die – there won’t be a Palestinian state, there won’t be - Hanoch Milwidsky, Member of the Knesset (Likud) on 21 February 2024.

#### A. Child casualties due to Israel’s use of explosive weapons in populated areas

##### **26.** 

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Until 7 October 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. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">Between 7 October 2023 and 7 October 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed and 44,143 children were injured</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a direct result of the hostilities in Gaza, constituting </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">30 percent of those killed and 26 percent of those injured during this period</span>. The Commission notes the increase in the proportion of children killed in comparison to previous escalations of hostilities wherein children made up approximately 24 percent of the conflict-related fatalities in the escalations of hostilities of 2008-2009 and 2014.

##### **28.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Additionally, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">unknown numbers of children are buried in unmarked graves</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> without their deaths being recorded or are simply missing. Over the two-year period, child casualties in Gaza have varied significantly across different phases of the hostilities, reflecting shifts in the intensity, geographic spread, and the Israeli military tactics and operations – timeline of key events is noted in Annex I at the end of this report.</span>

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##### **29.**

The Commission has previously noted that the increase in child casualties absolutely and proportionally in comparison with previous escalations of hostilities is due to Israeli security forces’ use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects (see paras. 30- 33) and an expansion of its targeting criteria, without taking adequate precautions, resulting in high child casualties among family members, neighbours and displaced communities at large.

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##### **30.** 

> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On 25 December 2023, Israeli security forces issued a statement about its targeting approach in Gaza: “Whereas in past operations or wars, Israel has been more selective or “accurate” with regards to the exact types of Hamas targets struck, given that Israel’s overall objective was limited to diminishing Hamas’s capabilities, Israel is now focused on dismantling Hamas’s capabilities altogether, i.e. causing “maximum damage” to Hamas’ military capabilities in their entirety.” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">The Commission found that statements by the Israeli security forces, in conjunction with its practice on the ground, indicate a de facto blanket permission to target civilian locations widely in Gaza.</span>

##### **33.** 

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The killing and injuring of children continued through temporary pauses in fighting, revealing that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">each pause in fighting has repeatedly failed to protect the most vulnerable</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. In one example, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">on 18 March 2025, the pause was ended by Israel by launching waves of airstrikes across Gaza without prior warning, killing at least 170 children by mid-day</span>. Between 18 and 31 March 2025, airstrikes, bombardments and ground operations by the Israeli security forces killed at least 322 children and injured 609 children, amounting to killing or injuring at least 100 Palestinian children per day in a span of two weeks alone.

##### **35.** 

> <span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184); white-space: pre-wrap;">The overwhelming scale and rate of children killed </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and injured in Gaza have been </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">unparalleled across modern conflicts globally</span>. Israel’s conduct in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and its harmful consequences on children have led UNICEF to rank the Gaza Strip as “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child”.

#### 1. Continued killing and maiming of children since the October 2025 ceasefire agreement

##### **38.** 

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On 29 November 2025, two brothers, aged 10 and nine, were killed in an Israeli drone strike near Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The boys were gathering firewood for their wheelchair-bound father when the strike occurred. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">Israeli security forces stated that soldiers spotted two “suspects” crossing the ‘yellow line’,</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> acting suspiciously and approaching their forces, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">so a drone eliminated the “immediate threat”</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. At the outset, the Commission notes that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">the boys were located more than 300 meters from the Israeli soldiers’ rifles, meaning that they could not have posed any immediate threat from such a distance.</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> The soldiers should not have classified the boys as “suspects” in the first place since they were clearly involved only in collecting firewood. The soldiers failed to adequately assess the ages of boys, their intentions and capabilities as a ‘threat’. The Commission finds that Israeli security forces’ Kfir Brigade were operating in the area.</span>

##### **39.** 

> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Commission is </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">not aware of any formal investigation initiated by the Israeli security forces</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> against those responsible, similar to other attacks which have not been investigated to date, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">underscoring a systemic impunity relating to the killing of Palestinians</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> including children. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">By maintaining that the children killed were “suspects”,</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Israeli security forces have deflected responsibility to Palestinian children, portraying them as “terrorists” rather than casualties. </span>

> Such tactics by the Israeli security forces serve to distort the factual narrative and further marginalize affected children and their families.